A New Beginning
by Izume-Hime
Summary: After moons of peace, six cats recieve a troubling prophecy from StarClan predicting a bloody future for the Clans. Will these six leave, or stay and face the horrors that await their home?
1. Allegiances

**All right, I kinda messed up **_**Bloody Miracles**_**, so this is a new version of it. I still have TreeClan, but took out GorgeClan.**

TreeClan

Leader: Leafstar – Dark brown she-cat with light brown stripes.

_Apprentice – Mistpaw_

Deputy: Miraclepool – Tortoiseshell she-cat with dark green eyes.

Medicine cat: Silverleaf – Silver tom with yellow eyes.

_Apprentice – Stormpaw _

Warriors

Goldenstep – White she-cat with a ginger paw.

_Apprentice – Snowpaw_

Blazingsoul – Sandy brown tom with white paws and chest.

_Apprentice - Echopaw_

Shadowpelt – Black tom with unusual red eyes.

_Apprentice – Gentlepaw_

Blitzclaw – Black she-cat with blue eyes.

_Apprentice - Crystalpaw_

Icestorm – White she-cat with dark gray flecks and blue eyes.

_Apprentice – Blackpaw_

Angerstrike – Powerful tabby tom with black stripes.

_Apprentice - Amberpaw_

Oceanspray – Gray she-cat with a blue tinged pelt.

Applefang – Orange tom with blue eyes and white paws.

Apprentices

Gentlepaw – Light ginger tabby with blue eyes.

Blackpaw – Black tom with green eyes.

Amberpaw – Dark tabby she-cat with black stripes and amber eyes.

Snowpaw – White tom with yellow eyes.

Mistpaw – Pretty light gray she-cat with darker gray stripes.

Stormpaw – Dark gray tom with white streaks.

Crystalpaw – White she-cat with black ear tips.

Echopaw – White tom with black paws.

Queens 

Elders

LakeClan

Leader – Summerstar – Light ginger tom with darker stripes.

Deputy – Ashcloud – Gray tom with amber eyes.

Medicine cat – Hawkpool – Brown tabby with black ears and a black tail tip.

_Apprentice – Shadepaw_

Warriors

Dapplepelt – Spotted tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes.

Ravenfeather – Black tom with a white tail tip.

_Apprentice - Minnowpaw_

Leopardpelt – Light gray tom with darker gray spots.

Darkfang – Dark gray she-cat with blue eyes.

_Apprentice – Gingerpaw_

Moonfur – Light gray, almost white tom with yellow eyes.

_Apprentice – Fogpaw_

Apprentices

Shadepaw – Dark gray tom with amber eyes.

Minnowpaw – Gray she-cat with a black tail.

Gingerpaw – Ginger she-cat with green eyes.

Fogpaw – Gray she-cat with yellow eyes.

Queens 

Elders

MeadowClan

Leader – Silverstar – Silver tom with yellow eyes.

Deputy – Lionfang – Ginger tom with large teeth.

_Apprentice – Speckledpaw_

Medicine Cat – Forestgaze – Bracken she-cat with distinctive green eyes.

Warriors

Crookedtail – Brown and white tom with a bent tail.

_Apprentice - Birdpaw_

Burntpelt – Dark ginger she-cat with amber eyes.

_Apprentice – Tallpaw _

Eagletalon – Brown tom with sharp claws.

Windfang – Swift tortoiseshell she-cat with one blue and one yellow eye.

Stonepelt – Gray tom with amber eyes.

Apprentices

Birdpaw – Pretty blue-gray she-cat with milky white eyes.

Tallpaw – Black and white tom with a long tail.

Speckledpaw – Golden she-cat with black spots.


	2. Prologue

**Okay, here is the prologue for **_**A New Beginning.**_** Hope you like it!**

_The moon shone on a meadow under a starless night sky as six cats surrounded a pool in the middle of the field._

"_What is the meaning of bringing me here?!" a dark tabby tom snarled, his amber eyes shining. _

"_Calm down," A ginger tom sitting next to him replied. "You know as much as we do that you coming here from the Place of No Stars was crucial."_

"_You've no right to order me around, kittypet!" The ginger tom's hackles rose as the tabby hissed. _

"_Tigerstar! Firestar! Both of you stop this instant!" A blue gray she-cat stepped up in front of the others. "We mustn't fight." Addressing all five cats, she mewed, "I have a new prophecy. A time of darkness is approaching these three Clans. It is a time that only the kin of the great leaders will survive."_

"_So right now we're under the assumption that all six of us must choose one cat out of our distant kin?" a spotted golden she-cat mewed. _

_She nodded and said, "Yes. Do you all have a cat in mind?" The others nodded. "Good. Tigerstar, you may come up and show us your decision."_

_Tigerstar glared at the she-cat, but did what she said. Lightly touching the water in the pool with his nose, an image of a small she-cat, who seemed to be an exact copy of the former leader himself, appeared._

"_She is an ambitious one," the gray cat stated, her eyes flashing with slight suspicion. "Does everyone else approve?" _

_As the others meowed their consent, Tigerstar stalked away from the pond and sat down behind the other leaders. The moment he sat down, a black and white tom took his place. _

"_Bluestar," he rumbled, "I would like to go next." Before anyone could protest, he copied Tigerstar's actions and a similar looking tom appeared. _

_Bluestar nodded. "He is a wise one, for an apprentice, Tallstar. I see why you chose him. Do you all approve?" Once again, the leaders agreed. Tallstar flicked his tail calmly and sat down once the muttering had died down. _

_Walking up to the pool, the spotted she-cat quickly touched the water and another apprentice appeared. Before Bluestar could say anything, Leopardstar yowled, "Does everybody approve of my choice?" She stared at the small group, as if daring someone to say no. After she was satisfied of the leaders' opinions, she sat down and Firestar stood up. _

"_I hope all of the leaders see and approve of my choice." The former ThunderClan leader meowed calmly as a ginger she-cat appeared in the pool. _

_Bluestar's eyes sparkled with amusement as she said, "Firestar, you realize that she is just like your daughter, do you not?" _

"_Yes, and that's why I chose her. They'll need all the enthusiasm they have to get through this. Does everybody approve?" _

_After all the cats nodded, Bluestar looked at a white tom with jet black paws. "Blackstar, are you ready to make your choice?" _

_The ShadowClan tom nodded and padded up to the pond. After a bit, a large tom with the same black paws appeared. "Do you all approve?" Blackstar grunted._

'It's just like him to choose the only apprentice that will become a warrior anytime soon,' _Bluestar mused as the leaders nodded. _

_When Blackstar sat down, Bluestar jumped off of the stone she had got on when Tigerstar showed his choice and said, "My fellow leaders, my choice may be a shock to some of you, but I hope you approve of my choice." She gracefully touched her nose to the water and a small form of an apprentice appeared. _

"_Bluestar," Tigerstar growled, "you do realize that this apprentice is blind, don't you? She won't make it past her own territory!" _

_Bluestar's eyes narrowed as she hissed, "I know she is blind, but she is strong. She _will_ find her way out of danger along with the others. Do you all approve?"_

_Firestar was the first one to approve by nodding and closing his eyes, as if he was remembering a cat with the same disability. After some hesitation, Leopardstar, Blackstar, and Tallstar nodded, but Tigerstar remained silent. _

_Bluestar stared at the dark tabby as her hackles rose slightly. "Tigerstar, do you approve?" she growled. _

_The tom snorted and replied, "Fine, but don't be surprised when she is killed in the first quarter moon that they're gone." With that, he walked away, heading back for the Place of No Stars. _

_Bluestar calmed down once again and mewed, "Then it is settled. We'll tell the chosen cats after the next Gathering." Her voice rose slightly so Tigerstar could hear, but if he did, nobody knew. _

**Ooh, Tigerstar's a little moody. Anyway, I thought that these leaders were good choices since they all did something good for their Clans, etc. Also, what should Echopaw's warrior name be? I'm open for suggestions. Please Review! Also, Sorry it's so short. The chapters should be longer. **

**AliKatNyah**


	3. Chapter 1

Okies, here's the first chapter

**Okies, here's the first chapter. Just telling you, most of the chapters will involve the switching of POVs since most of the cats are from different Clans.**

**Oh, and I just now realized I forgot to type the queens and elders for MeadowClan! (Whimpers) Terribly sorry. TT Anyway, Firestorm (Ginger she-cat with black stripes) is a queen of MeadowClan and Swiftstream (Gray tom with a white stomach) is an elder. **

**Echopaw**

"Crystalpaw, get off of me!" a yowl could be heard throughout TreeClan camp. Two older apprentices could be seen scuffling in front of their den, the she-cat clearly winning. The tom under her flailed his black paws, desperately trying to throw her off. Finally succeeding, he stood up, shook the dust out of his white pelt, and glared at Crystalpaw, who laughed.

"Come on, Echopaw," she mewed as her blue eyes sparkled. "I was only kidding."

Echopaw snorted and began cleaning his pelt, not taking his eyes off of his smaller built sister as he did so. "Well thanks to you, Mistpaw is probably laughing at me right now!" Sure enough, a certain gray she-cat was giggling after watching Echopaw be ambushed by Crystalpaw.

Crystalpaw poked his side with her paw and whispered, "You like Mistpaw, don't you?"

"No I don't!" he protested, his ears growing hot.

"Yes you do."

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do _not_!" Echopaw finally hissed, his tail lashing. He hated when Crystalpaw would tease him and make him look bad in front of Mistpaw. It was true that he liked him, but most of the tom apprentices felt the same way about the pretty she-cat.

Crystalpaw shrank back, clearly hurt. "I was only kidding around…" she muttered.

The large tom calmed down, but his voice showed that he was still defensive. "That's what you always say. You need to stop acting like a kit. We're going to be warriors soon!"

"You're kind of acting like a kit right now, you know," she defended.

Echopaw snorted. Just like all of their other arguments, this one was going nowhere. "Well you act like a kit everyday." Before she could respond, he added, "I'm going to find Blazingsoul. He said he would take me training at sunhigh, and it's nearing that time." With that, he walked away, but not without stealing a glance to see if Crystalpaw was actually hurt. Just like he predicted, she had already gotten over it and was talking to Blackpaw, who had just come back from hunting.

Turning back around, he looked for a familiar ginger and white tom. To his delight, Blazingsoul, his mentor, was speaking to Leafstar. Sitting down, he patiently waited until the two cats were done speaking.

"Oh, Echopaw!" Blazingsoul mewed after he turned around. "I was about to come to looking for you. Are you ready?"

The black pawed tom nodded enthusiastically and said, "I'm ready. What are we going to do? Battle training? Hunting? Are we going on a patrol?"

This time, Leafstar answered. "Actually, I was hoping that Blitzclaw, Crystalpaw, Mistpaw, and I could come hunting with you two. Turning to Blazingsoul, the brown she-cat meowed, "I want to see how the older apprentices are coming along."

As Blazingsoul replied, Echopaw found that he was excited and nervous at the same time. Was this just going to be a normal assessment, or was Leafstar going to see if they were fit enough to become warriors? Now that he thought of it, he, Mistpaw, and Crystalpaw were at the age where most cats became warriors.

"Echopaw, did you hear me?" his mentor's voice snapped Echopaw out of his thoughts.

Looking at his paws in slight embarrassment, he muttered, "No, I didn't. Sorry, Blazingsoul."

Sighing, the tom repeated himself. "I told you to go and get Mistpaw, Crystalpaw, and Blitzclaw. Can you do that?"

Nodding, Echopaw set off towards a black she-cat, who was talking to Miraclepool, TreeClan's deputy. The two turned their heads toward him when they realized he was there and Miraclepool mewed, "Hello Echopaw. What do you need?"

Echopaw nodded to the tortoiseshell and replied, "Hi, Miraclepool. I just wanted to tell Blitzclaw that Leafstar said she was holding an assessment for the older apprentices, including Crystalpaw and she needed her to come along."

Blitzclaw's dark blue eyes flashed as she muttered, "Well it's about time. Are you going to tell Crystalpaw, or should I?"

"Blazingsoul told me to get her and Mistpaw, so I will if that's all right with you."

She nodded and got up, bid Miraclepool goodbye, and padded over to Blazingsoul and Leafstar, who were waiting by the entrance of the Clan camp.

As Echopaw watched her approach the two, he couldn't help but think, _'She can be a bit grouchy sometimes.'_ When he turned around, Crystalpaw and Mistpaw were right in front of him.

"Is what I heard true?" Crystalpaw mewed, her voice filled with excitement. "Is Leafstar really thinking about making us three warriors?"

Echopaw shrugged. "Probably. After all, it isn't everyday that the leader wants to watch apprentices hunt."

Mistpaw purred. "Well, in that case, let's do our best!"

Echopaw felt his ears grow warm and his stomach started feeling awkward. Even after she stopped speaking, he still heard Mistpaw's words. _'She has such a beautiful voice,' _he thought dreamily. The tom was so engrossed in his thoughts; he didn't notice his sister flash him a knowing glance.

"Let's go then!" Crystalpaw mewed, practicing what she did best (which was breaking the silence). Standing up, she flicked her tail to signal Mistpaw, who followed.

Echopaw quickly snapped back into reality when he realized that they were leaving. Running after the two she-cats, he fell into pace with Mistpaw and mewed, "If we becoming warriors depends on this, I know you'll pass for sure."

He felt his heart skip a beat when her emerald eyes turned towards him and he said, "Thanks! I'm sure you'll do well, too."

Crystalpaw, who clearly didn't want to be outdone, said, "Yeah, well, I bet that I'll do better than both of you!"

Echopaw's eyes flashed as he yowled, "That's a bet! Winner gets the fattest piece of prey out of what we catch."

"Deal!" both Mistpaw and Crystalpaw mewed.

**Birdpaw**

The sun shone, warming up the sand pit that was MeadowClan's camp as the hunting patrol came in, each cat's mouth filled with prey. Although all of the patrol looked pleased, a blue grey she-cat with white eyes looked the happiest whilst a brown and white tom looked at her proudly.

"Wonderful job, Birdpaw!" Crookedtail mewed to his apprentice. "You did an excellent job on catching that vole."

"Thank you, Crookedtail," the she-cat mewed calmly and she stopped to put her prey down. Drinking in the air, she took in the activities that were taking place in camp. _Forestgaze is taking borage to Firestorm,_ she took down mental notes. _Lionfang and Silverstar are outside Silverstar's den, probably organizing patrols, and Tallpaw, Speckledpaw, and Eagletalon are at the fresh-kill pile. _

Nodding to herself, she picked up her vole and followed the scent of the fresh-kill pile. As she was setting it down, her ears picked up the sound of movement.

"Hi, Birdpaw!" Tallpaw mewed. "How did the hunting patrol go?"

She smiled and replied, "It went fine. I caught a vole!"

On the other side of her, she heard a she-cat snort. "Crookedtail probably held it down while you spent the whole time trying the find it."

"Speckledpaw!" a tom growled. This was Eagletalon, Speckledpaw's father. "You mustn't be that way with your den mates, or any cat for that matter." A pause told Birdpaw that he was shifting positions. "Good job, Birdpaw."

The she-cat nodded. "Thank you, Eagletalon." With that, she sat down and reached towards the scent of a mouse. Grabbing it in her jaws, she began to slowly eating it, savoring the taste. Leaf-bare had just recently ended and they prey was returning, so she enjoyed it while she could.

After a few more moments of silence, Birdpaw heard Eagletalon stand up and walk away. Feeling the cool wind on her pelt, she realized that the sun must be setting. Quickly finishing off the rest of her meal, she stood up, licked the remaining mouse off of her muzzle, and walked towards the apprentices' den.

"Birdpaw, wait up!" she stopped so Tallpaw could catch up to her.

"You going to get some sleep, too?" Birdpaw asked the tom.

"Yeah, I am kind of tired. Hey, did you hear Lionfang and Silverstar talking about Twolegs?"

She froze. "Twolegs? What Twolegs?"

She felt Tallpaw's tail swish back and forth as he continued. "Well, apparently, there are Twolegs on the far side of our territory, and they have their dogs and these weird sticks that make loud noises. The patrol I went on saw them ourselves! When the stick makes that noise, if there is a bird above it, it'll automatically die!"

Birdpaw gulped, a feeling of dread crawling up her spine. "You don't think that the Twolegs would use the sticks on…us do you?"

Tallpaw sighed. "I don't know. That's what Silverstar is worried about. If they do, we won't be able to fight back. And even if they don't use it on us, they'll keep killing the birds and our prey will decrease."

Birdpaw's sightless eyes looked up towards the red sky as she sent out a silent prayer. '_Please, StarClan let the Twolegs leave without anyone being harmed!' _

**Well, there it is. For those who haven't noticed by now, these next couple of chapters will be introducing our six kitties. **

**R&R, please! :D**


	4. Chapter 2

**I'm so sorry! Sumimasen! Peiné! Pesaroso! **

**I know I haven't updated in a while, but that's because I was having too much trouble typing freakin' Amberpaw! You see, I wanted her to be a bit like Tigerstar, since, if you haven't guessed by now, she's his distant kin. The only problem was her personality overall. Every time I made her part, she turned out to be Tigerstar, Mary-Sue version! TTTT So, that's why she has the whole 'Everyone just gets in my way' kind of attitude. Sorry if this chapter sucks. It's also a little shorter than expected for these cats do play important roles, but some not as important as others. **

**Oh, and this chapter and the next chapter will be the last two that introduce the cats. **

**Disclaimer (Sorry about forgetting it last time!): Erin Hunter owns _Warriors_, not me. If I did, Hawkfrost would be alive, Onestar would be dead, and StarClan would hold a weekly dance off.**

**Gingerpaw**

"Gingerpaw, why in StarClan's name would you do such a thing like that?" A harsh voice could be heard in the leader's den of LakeClan.

Gingerpaw looked up at her father and replied, "I was only giving her what she deserved, Summerstar. No harm was done."

"No harm?" Summerstar repeated. "Because of what you did, I have to face Leafstar next Gathering!"

The flame colored she-cat closed her green eyes and sighed. She hadn't thought of that when she started the fight. What had happened was last Gathering, when Gingerpaw was just a new apprentice; a dark tabby she-cat apprentice from TreeClan was bullying her closest friend, Minnowpaw, making snide comments about her heritage. The thing was that Minnowpaw was half MeadowClan, half LakeClan, or what the tabby called it, a halfClan. This had set Gingerpaw off, but she couldn't do anything due to the truce that was held at Gatherings. Because of this, when Gingerpaw happened to see her pass by while fishing from the lake, she picked a fight with the she-cat. Although the TreeClan apprentice was strong and left quite a few marks, Gingerpaw clawed a deep 'V' into her right ear.

"Sorry, Summerstar," she finally muttered.

"I'm afraid sorry doesn't cut it," the tom glared at her daughter. "I'll have to punish you. From now until the next Gathering, you must help Hawkpool and Shadepaw gather herbs. Other than that, you are not allowed out of camp under any circumstances."

Gingerpaw groaned. Helping the medicine cat and her apprentice was extremely boring, and she should know. This wasn't the first time she received that punishment. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. "Do I get to go to the Gathering?"

Summerstar's yellow eyes looked deep in thought. After what seemed like moons to Gingerpaw, he said, "I suppose. But don't think that I'll let you off easy the next time."

She nodded, her eyes sparkling. "Thanks Father! Uh, I mean Summerstar." She turned around and headed out of his den that was made out of the knotted roots of an oak tree. Wondering why she changed her words from 'Father' to 'Summerstar', she walked over to a silver she-cat with a distinctive black tail.

The she-cat turned around from talking with a black tom with a white tail tip. "Hi, Gingerpaw!" Minnowpaw mewed happily. "Ravenfeather was just about to take me to practice my fighting skills and we were wondering if you and Darkfang would like to come with us."

Gingerpaw nodded. "I'd like to! Let me see if Darkfang is up to it." With that, she turned tail and headed towards a dark she-cat sharing tongues with a light gray spotted tom.

"Oh, hello Gingerpaw," Darkfang meowed.

"Hello, Darkfang. Hi Leopardpelt," she nodded towards her mentor's brother. Turning back towards Darkfang, she said, "Ravenfeather said that if we wanted to, we could come with him and Minnowpaw to practice fighting. Can we?"

Gingerpaw flicked her tail impatiently as Darkfang thought for a few moments. Finally, she looked at Gingerpaw and mewed, "I don't see why not."

"Great!" Gingerpaw replied enthusiastically and ran back over to Minnowpaw. "I can go!"

"All right, then." Ravenfeather mewed when Darkfang walked up. "Let's head out."

"Gingerpaw, wait!" The she-cat flinched when she heard Summerstar call her name.

"Oh, hello, Summerstar." Darkfang dipped her head respectively along with Minnowpaw and Ravenfeather.

The leader flicked his ears in a greeting and then said, "Darkfang, didn't Gingerpaw tell you that she wasn't allowed out of camp until the next Gathering?"

_Fox-dung!_ Gingerpaw thought angrily. _And I thought I'd be able to get away with it, too._

"No, as a matter of fact, she did not." Gingerpaw felt her mentor's gaze burn into her pelt. "Why is that?"

"I got into a fight with the TreeClan apprentice that bullied Minnowpaw at the Gathering," she muttered. "The only way I can go out of camp is when I help Hawkpool and Shadepaw gather herbs."

For a moment, all that Gingerpaw could see was the anger in Darkfang's blue eyes, but it soon dissolved into dismay. "I see," she mewed. "Well, Gingerpaw, I'm very disappointed in you." Turning towards Ravenfeather, she added, "I'm sorry that my apprentice lied to us."

The tom just merely shook his head a replied, "That's all right, I don't mind."

"Gingerpaw, go and see if Hawkpool and Shadepaw need any help." Gingerpaw glared at Summerstar, but did as he told her. At one point, she turned around to see if Minnowpaw had already left or not. What she saw was Ravenfeather talking to Summerstar and Darkfang padding back over to Leopardpelt. When she caught her friend's eye, Gingerpaw mouthed, "I'm sorry."

She smiled when Minnowpaw just shook her head and mouthed back, "Don't be. Thanks, by the way."

**Amberpaw**

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey join under the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" a yowl woke Amberpaw from her deep slumber in the apprentices den.

"I guess Crystalpaw and Mistpaw were right," a light ginger tabby, Gentlepaw, mewed in the nest beside her while Snowpaw and Gentlepaw's brother, Blackpaw walked in the den.

"Come on you two!" Snowpaw mewed. "Echopaw, Crystalpaw, and Mistpaw are becoming warriors and I promised Mistpaw we would chant the loudest for them."

"What's the point of that?" Amberpaw spat angrily as she walked out. "Clearly we'll be the loudest because of your annoying voice."

"Why do you have to be so terrible?" the dark tabby felt Blackpaw's glare burn into her pelt from behind. "You should be happy for them. They were our den mates after all."

She snorted. "Like I care. Crystalpaw is too hyper and Mistpaw is too much of a goody-goody."

"What about Echopaw?"

_'Yes, what about Echopaw?'_ a voice in her head questioned. She and Echopaw did get along on a regular basis. He was strong, smart, level headed, and he took his apprenticeship seriously unlike the others. The only problem was that he practically drooled around Mistpaw. "Toms..." Amberpaw muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Snowpaw meowed everyone but Amberpaw sat down.

"Nothing!" she hissed and weaved her way through the crowd, sitting down in front beside her father and mentor, Angerstrike. When she was made apprentice, there were no available warriors other than Angerstrike, so despite the fact that the leader usually avoided having kin mentor kin, Leafstar had no choice. Of course, unlike what most parents would do, Angerstrike did _not_ go easy on her. Hence his name, the tom was rough and quick to criticize.

Amberpaw noticed Echopaw, Crystalpaw, and Mistpaw were sitting near her, Mistpaw and Crystalpaw looking extremely excited. Echopaw, on the other hand, was just sitting straight and proud, his face serious, but his yellow eyes shining. He caught Amberpaw looking at them and smiled, showing he was indeed excited. Amberpaw smirked back, showing she was happy for her friend before turning back towards Leafstar, who was sitting on the edge of the Highledge.

After everyone was accounted for, Leafstar looked at the three oldest apprentices and mewed, "Crystalpaw, come forward." When the she-cat did as she was told, Leafstar yowled, "I, Leafstar, leader of TreeClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn." Looking down at Crystalpaw, she continued. "Crystalpaw do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Crystalpaw, who Amberpaw noticed was shaking with excitement, nodded and shakily replied, "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Crystalpaw from this moment you will be known as Crystalheart. StarClan honors your enthusiasm and attitude, and we welcome you as a full warrior TreeClan." Leafstar stepped forward and rested her muzzle of Crystalheart's head. Crystalheart then licked the leader's shoulder in return.

"Crystalheart! Crystalheart!" the Clan shouted, the apprentices (save Amberpaw) the loudest. Amberpaw did join in, but only quietly.

After the chanting died down, Leafstar looked towards Mistpaw. "Mistpaw, please step forward." As the silver she-cat did, Amberpaw noticed the nervous glimmer in her eyes and the apprehensive twitch in her tail.

"I, Leafstar, leader of TreeClan," Leafstar repeated the ancient words once again, "call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Mistpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Mistpaw looked at her paws and whispered, almost too quiet for Amberpaw to hear, "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Mistpaw, from this moment you will be known as Mistpelt. StarClan honors your Intelligence and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior TreeClan."

"Mistpelt! Mistpelt!" the Clan chanted as Leafstar and Mistpelt repeated what the tabby leader had done with Crystalheart. Amberpaw growled softly as she heard Echopaw chant her name.

"And finally," Leafstar shifted her weight to become comfortable, "Echopaw."

As the tom came forward, Amberpaw noticed that he had his tail held high and didn't look afraid nor excited, unlike Mistpaw and his sister. Immediately, she knew he would demand respect from the other Clans as a warrior without even trying.

"I, Leafstar, leader of TreeClan, call upon my warriors ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He had trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Echopaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," he said loudly, yet calmly.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Echopaw, from this moment you will be known as Echostorm. StarClan honors your strength and wit in battle, and we welcome you as a full warrior of TreeClan." She stepped forward and rested her muzzle on his head. He licked her shoulder respectively and stepped back.

"Echostorm! Echostorm!" Amberpaw shouted, clearly meaning to be louder than she was with Mistpelt and Crystalheart. She almost missed it when Angerstrike shot her a knowing gaze.

"Mistpelt! Echostorm! Crystalheart!" The Clan shouted and surrounded the new warriors as Leafstar jumped off of the Highledge.

Finally, as the crowd began thinning out Amberpaw made her way towards Echostorm. "Congratulations!" she mewed when she found the large tom. "I hope I can be as confident as you when I become a warrior."

Echostorm nodded and smiled. "Thanks. And I guess we'll find out in two moons, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Before they could talk any longer, Mistpelt ran over to Echostorm. "Come on, Echostorm! Crystalheart's saving us nests by each other."

Echostorm nodded and replied, "All right. See you, Amberpaw."

Amberpaw muttered a 'See you' and watched them walk away. To her anger, she saw Echostorm lick Mistpelt on the ear and she purred. Stalking back to the apprentices den, she felt as if she wanted to claw the she-cat's eyes out. _'I shouldn't feel this way!'_ she thought despairingly. _'She's my Clan mate, we have to get along.'_

Suddenly, as she was settling down in her nest, a tom's voice echoed through her head. The voice sounded like her father, only a bit deeper and more sinister.

_'Don't throw away your anger, Amberpaw. It will make you stronger."_

**Ooh, who's the ghosty? xD (Ahem) Now, I have some things to clear up.  
**

**TreeClan is in ancient ThunderClan's territory.**

**MeadowClan is half in ShadowClan and half in RiverClan's territory.**

**LakeClan is in half WindClan and half RiverClan. **

**This takes place, like, two hundred moons after Firestar's time. **

**AliKatNyah**


	5. Author's Note

Hello peoples

**Hello peoples. Sorry about the long wait and REALLY sorry that this isn't the chapter you guys have been waiting for. ******

**Anyway, I just wanted to say that I've started softball and we have practice every school day, so please just bear with me as I say this…**

**But, I can only update every weekend. **

**Sorry!**

**AliKatNyah**


	6. Chapter 3

**All right, I'm back! (Cheesy music plays) This is the final chapter that will introduce the cats and then I'll be getting to work on the actual plot line. Oh, and one more thing. I have a little competition going on. Whoever can tell me when **_**Cats of the Clans **_**comes out can create a cat that will show up later in the story and help our heroes out! Just private message me and the first correct message I get is the winner! Now, on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own **_**Warriors, **_**but I do own this fic and all the kitties in it. I'm pretty sure I own myself as well. **

**Speckledpaw**

Speckledpaw snorted as she watched Birdpaw walk off. _'Why does she get praised and supported?' _the she-cat thought angrily._ 'Just because she's blind doesn't mean she should get any special treatment!' _To Speckledpaw, the blue-gray apprentice just acted mature and pretended to try just to get attention. Whether she thought this out of jealousy or resentment, she didn't know. What she did know was that she had to be better than Birdpaw as an apprentice and eventually, as a warrior.

"Speckledpaw!" Speckledpaw turned around at the sound of her name. Coming towards her was Lionfang.

"Yes?" she replied as the deputy stopped in front of her. She couldn't possibly know what he wanted now, for they just got back from battle training.

"Tomorrow you and I are going to go on the dawn patrol, all right?"

The spotted tabby immediately brightened up. If there was anything she loved doing, it was going on patrols. "Okay! Who else is going?"

"Crookedtail, Birdpaw, Eagletalon, and Windfang."

Speckledpaw's tail fell when her mentor mentioned her den mate. "Oh, all right. I guess I'll go get some rest, then."

She saw Lionfang cock his head in confusion as she turned tail and stalked off to the apprentices' den. He was clearly confused why she had changed moods so fast. As she settled into her nest, the last thing she thought was the quote she thought Birdpaw used to attract attention.

"Why me?"

"Speckledpaw! Wake up!" Speckledpaw awoke to something poking her in the side. Opening her eyes, she saw Birdpaw attempting to wake her up.

"What?!" she spat.

The blind apprentice recoiled, as if hit with an unsheathed paw and replied, "Lionfang told me to wake you up. It's time for the dawn patrol."

In an instant, Speckledpaw shot up. She had forgotten she was going on the patrol! She shoved past Birdpaw and made her way to the entrance of the den. Unfortunately, she didn't notice that Tallpaw had stretched out his long tail in his sleep. The moment, she stepped on it, he let out a loud yowl.

"Ow! Speckledpaw!" the tom glared at her and pointedly wrapped his tail around his small form.

"Sorry," she muttered as she walked out. Tallpaw would probably either forgive her or just forget it happened all together. She swore to StarClan he had the memory span of a butterfly.

"There you are," Lionfang calmly mewed as she came over.

As she flicked her ears apologetically, Birdpaw walked out and stopped at Speckledpaw's side.

"Tallpaw is muttering about you. He sounds angry." Birdpaw said as if to break the silence.

"Like I care!" she snapped as she walked over to Lionfang's side when they started moving out. The ginger tom flashed her a warning glance when she fell into step with him.

For the first half, the patrol was uneventful. The only thing half interesting that went on is when Lionfang stopped to speak to Miraclepool, who was leading a TreeClan patrol. Speckledpaw took this chance to rest and give herself a quick cleaning. While she was doing this, she couldn't help but notice how friendly TreeClan and MeadowClan were to each other. As a matter of facet, the apprentice noticed that there hadn't been any tension between the two Clans for almost four moons. That was how she liked it, though. Peaceful, friendly, and no bloodshed.

"Speckledpaw, we're leaving," A voice interrupted her moment of tranquility. She spun around to glare at none other than Birdpaw.

"I know that!" she hissed, although she really didn't.

"No you didn't" the she-cat replied, as if reading Speckledpaw's mind. "Now come on. Silverstar wanted to assess me when got back and if I miss this, it might interfere with me becoming a warrior."

Speckledpaw snorted. "You won't become a warrior anyway! I mean, whoever has heard of a blind warrior? You couldn't lead patrols and you would be practically useless in battle. As a matter of fact, you would be practically useless at everything!"

The golden tabby was about to walk away, put stopped and stared in pure shock as Birdpaw unsheathed her claws and ran at her. Before any of the warriors could do anything, the two apprentices were a blur of teeth and claws. Speckledpaw growled in satisfaction as she scratched her Clan mate in the shoulder, but soon screeched in pain and frusturation when Birdpaw (To Speckledpaw's surprise) gave her a harsh blow to the head. In pure desperation not to be beaten by a blind apprentice of all things, Speckledpaw managed to bite down hard on the scruff of her neck and refused to let go.

"Both of you stop it for StarClan's sake!" she heard Eagletalon yowl. She watched as the brown tom, along with Windfang, pulled the two apprentices apart.

After a few moments of just the sound of Speckledpaw and Birdpaw's hard breathing, Speckledpaw put her ears back in shame when Lionfang yowled, "What would possess you two to do such a mouse-brained thing?!"

All Speckledpaw could think to say was, "She deserved every bit of it."

"Same with her!" Birdpaw snarled, her sightless eyes seeming to glitter with fury.

Speckledpaw's heart skipped a beat when Lionfang said, "Silverstar will need to know about this."

**Tallpaw**

After getting a few more moments of sleep after Speckledpaw had stepped on his tail at dawn, Tallpaw yawned and stretched. His tail was feeling a lot better than it had been after his Clan mate stepped on it. Walking out of his den, he came to a halt when his mentor, Burntpelt walked up to him.

"Good morning, Tallpaw," the dark ginger she-cat mewed in a friendly tone.

"Good morning," he replied, his tail calmly swishing back and forth. It had a tendency to do that when he was content or hard at work.

"I need you to get fresh-kill for Firestorm and Swiftstream. After that, come find me and we'll practice a bit on your hunting skills."

Tallpaw inwardly sighed. He had only been awake for a few minutes and he already was being but to work. "Yes, Burntpelt."

He walked away from the she-cat and grabbed a vole for Firestorm and a thrush for MeadowClan's only elder, Swiftstream. Stifling a quick yawn, he made his way over to the nursery. Making his way through the ferns that shielded the entrance, he stepped in and looked around for the queen and her kits, Sunkit, a light ginger tom, and Rainkit, a light gray she-cat. When they noticed that they had a visitor, the two litter mates lunged at Tallpaw.

"Tallpaw!" Rainkit mewed.

"We've been waiting for you to come back for moons!" Sunkit picked up where his sister left off. "You have to finish the story about the one time you caught a pheasant!"

Tallpaw couldn't help but purr with amusement. "Sorry, you two. I can't finish today, after this, I have to train with Burntpelt."

As the two kits pouted, their mother, Firestorm, mewed, "Maybe he can tell the rest when he's done training. Now get off of him, all right? You two are getting far too big to be ganging up on Tallpaw."

They nodded reluctantly and scrambled back over to the ginger and black she-cat. Tallpaw nodded thankfully and dropped the vole by Firestorm. "Burntpelt told me to bring this to you three. I hope it's big enough. There wasn't much in the pile."

"It's fine," Firestorm mewed and flicked her tail dismissavely. "Thank you very much, Tallpaw."

"No problem," he replied as he picked up the thrush and padded out of the nursery, quickly heading towards the elder's den.

"Ah, Tallpaw!" A gray and white tom greeted him as he padded in. "Finally decided to come and visit, huh?"

"Sorry I haven't come in a while," he mewed to his grandfather. "Burntpelt's been keeping me really busy. I brought you some food."

Swiftstream nodded, his eyes full of understanding and quickly tucked into the thrush. "Thank you," he finally said as he licked the remains off of his snout.

Tallpaw nodded and sat down. He and his kin talked for a while before the black and white apprentice left to begin his busy day of training. As he walked over to Burntpelt, who was sharing tounges with Stonepelt, the dawn patrol returned. Turning to see if Speckledpaw and Birdpaw had finally decided to get along, he stared in horror as the two apprentices came in, various wounds dotting their pelts. He barely noticed it when Burntpelt and Stonepelt ran over to Lionfang and spoke to the deputy as the two she-cats were led to Silverstar's den by Windfang and Eagletalon.

Shaking his head so he could snap back into reality, Tallpaw dashed over to his mentor and yowled, "What happened? Were they attacked? Why are only Birdpaw and Speckledpaw hurt?"

Burntpelt flicked her tail across his mouth to signal silence and quietly mewed, "They did it to each other. While on the dawn patrol, they apparently got into a fight. A bad one, too."

"What?" Tallpaw said, dumbfounded. "But, they're Clan mates! They shouldn't be fighting!"

His mentor sighed, sadness glittering in her amber eyes. "I know, Tallpaw. Come on, let's go and hunt. That should take you mind off of it."

Unfortunately, hunting didn't take his mind off of it. As a matter of fact, he was thinking about it so hard and so much that he missed a mouse, almost missed a thrush, and didn't even realized a vole had dashed right in front of his paws. When they came back with his meager catch, he couldn't help but bow his head in shame.

"Don't worry about it," Burntpelt mewed. "Go and check on your friends."

Tallpaw nodded, dropped his thrush on the pile, and dashed over to where Birdpaw and Speckledpaw had just come out of Silverstar's stone den. "What happened? What did he say?" he asked when he had reached them.

He stared in shock as Birdpaw looked at her paws and Speckledpaw put her ears down and muttered, "He's making us wait until we're thirteen moons old to become warriors."

**Well, there it is! Hope you like the final introduction chapter! And those who are going to do the competition, good luck! **

**AliKatNyah**


	7. Chapter 4

**A/N Terribly sorry, peoples. I've had the worse cases of writer's block and spring fever in the world. D:**

**Anyway, I have a few things to talk about in my author's note, so be prepared to read lots of stuff that involves me talking. **

**First of all, I need a beta reader, for I'm too lazy to use Microsoft Word, which is the only thing that you can make stories on that has spell check on my computer. If you have a beta and can deal with my story, please mail me. **

**Second, that competition I mentioned in my last chapter is still going on. If you're interested in one of your kitties being in my story and know when **_**Cats of the Clans**_** comes out, mail me or post it in your review.**

**Third, I've been thinking and I thought that maybe a few of my readers would like to help me cure myself of my writer's block. I ish need ideas! If you have any good ones, once again, mail me or post it in your review.**

**Fourth and Finally, I'm going to make another **_**Warriors **_**story and it's going to be an ask the clan cats kind of thing and I was wondering since there are hundreds of those, would I get in trouble for doing it?**

**Thanks!**

Echostorm jumped at Leafstar's call, his yellow eyes glittering with excitement. This would be his first Gathering as a warrior! Looking at Mistpelt, whom he was sharing tongues with, they both nodded and got up to join the others who were going. These cats included Amberpaw, Blackpaw, Blazingsoul, Oceanspray, Icestorm, Crystalheart and Blitzclaw.

"Are you ready?" Icestorm mewed when they came up.

"We were born ready," the tom replied while puffing out his chest.

Blazingsoul, who was listening to their conversation, purred. "I remember my first Gathering as a warriror. I was just as excited as you. When I got their, it felt like proving myself to the other Clans was the most important thing."

"How long ago were you a newly named warrior? Six hundred moons ago?" Blackpaw mewled teasingly at his father just to recieve a gentle cuff to the head.

Echostorm purred in amusement as the father and son each took a turn at joking with each other. For a split second, his mind went back to when he was just a small kit and his father, Darkstep, was still alive. As a matter of fact, he was named Echokit because was exactly like his father, right down to the length and sharpness of his claws. His tail drooping, the tom reminded himself that Darkstep wasn't there to see his only son become a warrior.

"Echostorm!" Miraclpool yowled. "Are you coming or not?"

The black footed tom looked up to see that the group of cats were leaving and his deputy was staring at him, curiosity glittering in the tortoiseshell's green eyes. He dashed towards her a muttered a quick "sorry" before catching up with his other Clan mates.

"Echostorm," Miraclepool walked up to his side, "what's wrong?"

"Why would you think something is wrong? Nothing's wrong."

She snorted. "Listen, you stubborn tom. Have you forgotten that you are my kit? I know when something's on your mind."

Echostorm sighed. His mother just had to be the one to find out. "It's just..." he pause before finishing. "I guess I'm just a little dissapointed that Father wasn't here to see me become a warrior."

Crystalheart, Mistpelt, and Amberpaw, who had been evesdropping, all came over to Echostorm. Rolling his eyes, he silently asked StarClan why he had such nosy friends and family.

"I'm sure Darkstep is watching you from StarClan," Amberpaw encouraged. "After all, even though you can't see him, he can see you."

"Amberpaw's right," Mistpelt picked up where the tabby left off. "I'll bet you two mouse tails that he couldn't be prouder of you and Crystalheart."

"Yeah," Crystalpaw meowed. "If Darkstep could, he would tell us how proud he is. Besides, we'll be able to see him again eventually."

Echostorm shrugged. "I guess you all are right, but can you do me a favor?"

"What?" The she-cats, other than Miraclepool (Leafstar had to speak with her), inquired.

"Don't try so hard to cheer me up. It can get kind of scary when Amberpaw acts hyper."

Crystalheart and Mistpelt laughed, while Echostorm mentally noted that Amberpaw stayed silent, although her eyes betrayed she was just as amused by the joke directed towards her.

After a few more moments of the four cats talking about random things, such as the weather, how much prey there was in the forest, and Amberpaw being ambushed by a ginger LakeClan apprentice.

"I swear that the she-cat had problems or something," Amberpaw continued her story. "I was just grabbing a drink from our side of the river, and she just glared at me and yelled, 'You!' then pounced me. That's where I got the slit in my ear from."

"Wow," Echostorm replied. "I didn't know LakeClan cats had such short tempers!"

Mistpelt nodded in agreement as they reached the tree-bridge that led to the island. "I wonder if Summerstar or Leafstar will bring it up. I wouldn't be surpirsed if they did. After all, it isn't everyday that an apprentice attacks another one without being provoked."

Echostorm and Crystalheart muttered their agreements as the TreeClan cats began to cross the bridge. Looking over towards Amberpaw, Echostorm was about to ask her if she wanted to go first, but he noticed that the she-cat was looking at her paws, a guilty look in her eye, as if there was more to the story that she told.

Shrugging the thought off, Echostorm quickly padded over to the tree-bridge and crossed it, his claws instinctively sinking into the waterlogged wood. Slithering along the trunk, he quickly made it to the other side and jumped off onto the soft ground. Turning around, he watched Crystalheart and Amberpaw cross, along with the other remaining TreeClan cats. When they all made it to the island, Leafstar nodded, and they all separated, either finding friends from the other two Clans, or joining a group to brag about recent hunts or battles. Looking around, the tom saw an all too familiar black and white shape coming towards him.

"Tallpaw!" he purred in a friendly tone. "How is it in MeadowClan?"

"Hello, Echopaw," the tom replied. "Everything's fine. What about in your Clan?"

Echostorm's eyes glittered as he meowed, "Same with me, but it's Echostorm now. Mistpelt, Crystalheart, and I are warriors now."

The MeadowClan apprentice's eyes widened, clearly impressed. "Oh really? Congratulations!"

"Thanks."

Before their conversation could continue, Echostorm heard a yowl from the branches of the huge trees that the leaders sat upon in Gathering. Turning around, he noticed that Summerstar had been the one who yowled.

"We are gathered here under the full moon by the will of StarClan," the ginger tom spoke to all the cats. "Under these circumstances, the Gathering shall begin."

He sat back down on his branch, as if willing Leafstar or Silverstar to go first. After a few seconds, Echostorm watched Silverstar stand up on the branch that he was balancing on.

"The prey is running well in MeadowClan and our kits are healthy," he began. "The only true problem is that Twolegs have set up a temporary camp in our territory. They have these strange silver sticks that make loud, strange noises and kill birds that are flying above them on contact." He sat down as a ripple of shock and fear went through the cats below.

Echostorm felt his heart do flips. Twolegs could kill birds without touching them? _I'd hate to see what would happen if they decided to use their sticks on us cats, _he thought with alarm.

After the cats in the clearing calmed down, Echostorm watched his own leader, Leafstar stand up. "All is peaceful in TreeClan," she mewed loudly. "The Twolegs haven't bothered us, the prey is running well, and we have three new warriors. Echopaw, Crystalpaw, and Mistpaw are now known as Echostorm, Crystalheart, and Mistpelt."

The black pawed tom swelled up with happiness when he realized he was mentioned. His gaze never fell when cats of all the Clans looked at him, some murmuring their congratulations. Looking over towards his friend and sister, he noticed that Mistpelt looked embarassed, while Crystalheart looked a bit anxious. Smirking, Echostorm knew that he -once again, as a matter of fact- was the only one who showed that he was proud that he was a warrior now.

"Oh, and one more thing," Leafstar looked over to Silverstar, apparently remembering important information. "A patrol the other day chased a fox out of our territory and it ran onto MeadowClan's. I thought you would like a fair warning."

The silver tabby nodded. "Thank you, Leafstar. I will tell my patrols to keep an eye out." Turning towards the LakeClan leader, he added, "Summerstar, does LakeClan have any news?"

Summerstar growled and nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." Raising his voice, he yowled, "Both TreeClan and MeadowClan have recently stolen prey from our territory!" He just flicked his tail when cries of refusal echoed throughout the island.

Echostorm hissed. TreeClan has been doing no such thing! Looking up at Summerstar, he screeched, "What proof do you have?!"

Leafstar, who had apparently heard him, nodded and growled, "Yes, Summerstar. What kind of proof do you have?"

The tom matched the tabby's burning gaze as he replied, "An apprentice scented MeadowClan and TreeClan on our territory."

Silverstar spat. "You caused this uproar just because an _apprentice_ told you this?"

"You didn't let me finish," Summerstar spat. "My deputy, Ashcloud comfirmed this as well."

As the leader's argued, Echostorm looked up at the moon. How much longer would it take for clouds to cover it? Sighing he exchanged glances with Tallpaw. Both their yellow eyes seemed to say, 'Why would this happen?' That question must have been running through all of the cats' minds at this Gathering. After all, the Clans had been at peace for moons now!

"Summerstar," Leafstar's wise, melodic, voice cause Echostorm to look back at the three leaders. "I don't know how you could have possibly scented our Clans, but we assure you that we haven't stolen prey." Silverstar nodded to this.

"You seem close to MeadowClan, Leafstar," the ginger tom snarled. "Have you two, by chance, formed an alliance?"

"You're out of your mind!" Echostorm perked his ears at Mispelt's now not so gentle voice. Turning, he noticed that the she-cat had her claws unsheated and her teeth bared.

As if reading his mind, Tallpaw mewed, "I've never seen her like this."

"I know," he agreed.

Silverstar shook his head. "Summerstar, how in the name of StarClan did you come to this conclusion? What is wrong with you?" Stepping forward on his branch to get closer to the leader, he added, "Why are you so quick to accuse?"

"It's none of your buisiness, _halfClan_!" Summerstar spat the last word out and everyone, including Leafstar, gasped in shock.

Leaning down to get closer to Tallpaw's ear, Echostorm whispered, "Silverstar is of two Clans?"

The black and white apprentice nodded. "Yeah. His mother was a TreeClan cat and his father was a MeadowClan cat, or that's what our elder says. I think that's where Summerstar got the idea that he and Leafstar had formed an alliance."

Echostorm grunted to show that he heard as he stared at Silverstar, who looked like he was on his last nerve. His claws were unsheathed and his hackles were raise as he said, "Summerstar, I didn't know you were one to judge a cat on his lineage."

Summerstar just hissed. "Every cat should know that halfClans deserve to be scorned. They shouldn't even exist in the Clans."

"You are quite the hypocrite," Silverstar's voice was strained as if it took all he had to remain calm. "If I remember correctly, you have an apprentice who has a paw in two Clans, do you not?"

Sure enough, Echostorm heard a muffled sob and turned around to see a silver she-cat with a black tail crying. Beside her was a ginger apprentice -almost an exact copy of Summerstar- desperately trying to comfort her and at the same time glaring at her leader.

"That's Minnowpaw and Gingerpaw," Tallpaw whispered beside him. "Minnowpaw is half LakeClan and half MeadowClan."

"Ah," Echostorm replied.

Turning his attention back towards the leader, he noticed that Summerstar and Silverstar were still glaring at each other. Leafstar, who seemed uncomfortable, finally sighed and yowled, "This Gathering is over!" After that, she climbed down the tree she was in while the other leaders did the same.

Although it shocked Echostorm that Summerstar had taken a turn for the worse so suddenly, what shocked him even more was what happened while the leaders were about to gather their Clans. Summerstar quickly whirled around and pounced Silverstar, claws unsheathed. The older tom yowled in surprise and pain as Summerstar clawed his back. Soon, the two toms were a blur of silver, ginger, and blood.

Leafstar, who was frozen in pure shock until that moment in time, bravely jumped into the fray and attempted to pull the toms apart with Miraclepool behind.

"We have to help!" Echostorm turned around to see Crystalheart behind him. "We can't let Leafstar or Miraclepool get injured."

Echostorm nodded and dashed over to the four cats with his sister, nearly trampling Tallpaw in the process. Quickly gulping, he unsheathed his claws and jumped onto Summerstar and grabbed the scruff of his neck while Crystalheart and Miraclepool had done the same to Silverstar. The three cats attempted to pull the leaders apart while Leafstar stopped their flailing paws and terrible remarks.

Echostorm gasped as he barely dodged Summerstar's teeth. Getting back up on his feet, he saw that Miraclepool had jumped in between him and the leader.

"If you lay a paw on him, I will flail you, leader or not!" Miraclepool snarled.

Echostorm's eyes widened until they were two large moons. He knew that his mother was fierce and protective, but he had never seen her take on a leader without hesitation or any regrets.

Summerstar sheathed his claws, but never took his eyes off of Miraclepool. After what seemed like moons, he looked over towards Echostorm and muttered, "Be thankful for your mother, apprentice."

Echostorm growled and was about to correct the leader due to the fact he called him an apprentice, but one desperate glance from Miraclepool silenced him. At that moment, Echostorm realized that the island seemed darker. To his horror, when he looked up, he saw clouds covering the full moon.

"TreeClan!" Leafstar's yowl echoed through the island. "We are leaving, now."

"MeadowClan is as well!" Silverstar growled.

The three Clans immediately gathered with their Clan mates and the leaders took the lead. Taking his spot by Mistpelt, Crystalheart, and Amberpaw, Echostorm sighed.

After they had reach the point where they were halfway from TreeClan camp. He heard Mistpelt's troubled sigh.

"Oh, Echostorm, what is becoming of the Clans? What caused this?" she whispered.

"I don't know," was the only thing he could reply with. "I just don't know.

**A/N Well, this turned out more dramatic then I wanted it to. XD Ah well, all's fair in love and war or something like that. **

**AliKatNyah**


	8. Chapter 5

**A/N: Oh my God, StarClan, Jashin, etc. I goofed up BIG time. **

**  
You see what happened was I went to send the next chapter to my beta reader, Blanket of Darkness(Thank you for beta-ing!) and I DELETED IT. That's why it's taken so long. And the fact I have a softball game every other day with practice on the days between those days. I just don't have any more energy... **

**  
Well, I'll try my best to get these next couple of chapters up A.S.A.P. It'll even out eventually, though, for summer vacation is coming up for me. :D**

**Heh, I'm listening to **_**All About Us**_** by T.A.T.U and I just realized how good of a theme song this will be for my later chapters. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Warriors **_**and you better thank the man upstairs I don't because if I did, it would probably be JACKED. UP. **

Gingerpaw walked back to camp with her Clan mates, numb with shock. The ginger apprentice was still taking in all of the incidents that took place at the Gathering. After all, it wasn't everyday that your leader loses it in front of the other Clans. _It's all because of that fish he ate,_ she thought angirly.

What had happened was that the Twolegs had been dumping their waste into the river that fed into the lake that LakeClan fished out of. Ashcloud, Ravenfeather, Minnowpaw, Moonfur, and Fogpaw had seen two or three dead fish floating on the surface on the sunhigh patrol just a half a moon ago, but they shrugged it off since fish died natural deaths all the time. They were only proved wrong when Shadepaw and Summerstar ate two of the diseased fish.

Although it had infected the young medicine cat apprentice more than it had Summerstar, both were pretty bad off. Shadepaw physically and Summerstar mentally. Shadepaw was now being treated by his mentor Hawkpool, but not improving. It had all started as a bellyache a quarter and a half moon ago. Summerstar had eaten one a day after, and now he was more paranoid and easily angered, which is what Gingerpaw and the rest of the Clan had guessed caused his terrible temper at the Gathering. Now Gingerpaw couldn't go and see her father without her ears nearly getting clawed off.

"Are you okay?" Gingerpaw spun around to see Minnowpaw behind her, her blue eyes glistening with sadness.

Gingerpaw looked at her friend and nodded. "I'm fine," she mewed and rested her tail on the she-cat's back. "I'm the one who should be asking you that question, anyway. I'm sorry about what happened."

"You shouldn't be the one apologizing," came the reply.

"I know, but I fell like I should." She lowered her voice before adding, "After all, he _is _my kin. I'm ashamed about it myself."

Minnowpaw just shrugged. "Let's just forget about what happened tonight. After all, I'm sure Hawkpool will find a cure soon. She is the best medicine cat that LakeClan has ever had."

Gingerpaw sighed and just nodded. "You're right, I believe that she will." Although she said this, she didn't truly believe that there was a cure to be found. There was just something telling her that she might as well expect to say goodbye to Shadepaw and Summerstar sooner or later.

The moment they walked in between the two beech trees that made up the camp entrance, Gingerpaw saw Ravenfeather push through the throng of cats as he made his way towards Hawkpool's den, going to check on his son. All Gingerpaw knew about Shadepaw's condition was that no matter how much he ate and no matter how much Hawkpool did, he kept losing weight. At this rate, the majority of the Clan was sure that he wouldn't make it. As for Summerstar, not much could be done since it was a mental illness.

"Fogpaw!" Gingepaw yowled and ran over to the light gray she-cat when she saw her. "How are you? How's your brother?"

Fogpaw sighed as her tail drooped. "He's worse. Hawkpool is running out of ideas and I'm running out of hope."

Gingerpaw looked down at her paws. "Fogpaw, I'm really sorry that this is happening. I pray to StarClan that he'll recover."

Fogpaw sat up and shrugged. "I don't know if StarClan can help with this. You better go and get some sleep. We'll probably have a busy schedule tomorrow since Darkfang and Moonfur have been talking about asessements."

"All right, I suppose I should." She replied as she walked towards the apprentices den, but not before turning around and saying, "Fogpaw, promise me you'll take it easy."

The apprentice sighed. "I promise. Night."

"Night."

(Barrier)

Gingerpaw woke up to find herself in a misty forest four etremely large trees behind her and a rock in the center. She didn't recognize this territory or the scents that covered it, so she remained frozen, looking around with her eyes glittering with shock and fear. Suddenly she scented cat, but they didn't smell like any Clan, a rouge or loner, or a kittypet.

"Hello?" she mewed as she heard the sounds of twigs cracking. "Who's there?"

Suddenly, a tom who was the exact copy of Gingerpaw, other than they white hairs on his muzzle and the ones dotting his pelt, walked out of the undergrowth and into the small clearing. "Welcome, Gingerpaw. Do you know why you are here?"

"No!" Gingerpaw spat, treating this cat like an intruder. "I don't even know _where _I am! And how do you know my name?!"

The tom stared at her intently, wisdom and experiance showing clearly to Gingerpaw in his green eyes. "You shouldn't speak to your ancestors like that, Gingerpaw."

"'Ancestors?'" she repeated. "You mean I'm in _StarClan_?" Her face went blank. "Am I dead?"

He purred with amusement and shook his head. "No, you're not dead. I have a message for you, though."

"Wait," Gingerpaw mewed when he went to continue. "Before you do, I have to ask you a few things. First, why me? Why not Summerstar or Hawkpool? Second, who are you? You don't smell like TreeClan, LakeClan, or MeadowClan."

"I'm telling you because you are one of StarClan's chosen." He bowed his head before continuing. "I am Firestar, former leader of ThunderClan."

Gingerpaw gasped when Firestar finished. "You were a leader of one of the ancient Clans? I heard that they died out seasons ago!"

"They did, but that's not important right now. What is important is that history is about to repeat itself." He lifted his tail for silence when Gingerpaw was about to throw more questions at him. "You must unite with cats from the other Clans."

The she-cat snorted, oblivious to what he said first. "Unite with them?" she meowed. "I'm sorry, but we've been fighting over territory and prey for moons! You can't really believe that a few of us will forget our differenced and go on some journey together, do you? You know what I mean, right?"

Firestar's eyes glittered as if he was remembering something. "Oh, believe me, I do know what you mean." His expression turned serious before he said, "But, I don't think you see the point, Gingerpaw. You either unite with these cats or die."

Her eyes widened as she took this information in. "You mean I've been chosen to go on a journey that means life or death for the Clans."

"No. It determines whether you live or die. It's your choice." While he said this, a small glow appeared by the tom's left ear. "I can't tell you who exactly you'll be going with, but this might help."

After he finished speaking, the light grew and in the center was a pale blue bird. The only thing was that this was no normal bird. Instead of the usual black eyes, the eyes were milky white and appeared to be sightless. Soon, it quickly dissapeared an in its place was an amber star. Gingerpaw surpressed a shiver as she stared at it, for she swore that it was staring back. Before she could even look at Firestar, the star was replaced by a bird's eye view of a forest. In the center of the forest was the tallest tree that Gingerpaw had ever seen. It towered over the other trees and cast a long shadow, stopping some of the trees from gaining the light that they depended on.

"How is that supposed to be related to a cat?" she mewed, but her distant kin didn't answer.

Next was a falling leaf, yellow as if it was leaf-fall and was dotted with black spots, giving it the image of what Gingerpaw picture the leopard, one of the large cats that were alive even before ThunderClan. After that, an image of a cat appeared. The cat seemed to be in a cave, mewing something incoherent. It wasn't anything special like the others to Gingerpaw because the only thing that would happen is when he meowed, his echo could be heard. After that, the tabby dissapeared into nothing along with the light.

Gingerpaw looked over towards Firestar. "So that's suppose to clue me in on who is coming with me? I can't name any on the spot. Can't you just tell me?"

Instead of answering, the ancient leader began to fade into nothing. Before Gingerpaw could even open her mouth, a huge wave of black water crashed into her, pulling her under and not letting her back up. As she sank even deeper into the dark abyss, the apprentice realized that although instinct was taking over, she couldn't move and though her lungs felt like they were on fire, she didn't need to breathe. She opened her mouth to speak, but no water came in and no words came out. _What does this mean?_ she thought frantically. _Firestar, what are you trying to tell me?_

Suddenly, she felt a warm prescence slowly surrounding her as she sank. The words that followed came her even more comfort than the secure feeling.

"Don't worry, Gingerpaw. You will figure it out all in time. Choose one cat to come with you and leave in half a moon. And remember; no matter how hard this might be or how hopeless you might feel, I will always be there, guiding your every pawstep."

**A/N: Yeah, I know it's short, but there's nothing more I can think of. Anyway, if you read the hints about the other cats closely, some of them will give clues on what the prophetic cats' warrior names will be. And please let me know I haven't lost you and review! Thanks!  
**

**Motte Suki,**

**AliKayNyah**


	9. Chapter 6

**A/N : Eek! I finished **_**Outcast**_** and have pre-ordered **_**Cat of the Clans**_**! dances**

**Anyway, here is the next chapter of **_**A New Beginning**_**. And softball season has ended, so I'll have more time on my hands**

**Sixteen more days of school!**

Echostorm looked around curiously as the Sky Oak he had been under dissapeared and was replaced with the Island that Gatherings were held at. The young tom's fur bristled, unsure if he was in any danger, but ready to fight if he was.

"Greetings, Echostorm. You have no reason to feel threatened here."

He spun around to see a large tom with black paws. At first, he thought that he was seeing his own reflection. The only thing was that this cat seemed older, wiser, and stronger. "Who are you?" he finally managed to get out.

"I am Blackstar. I led ShadowClan when I was still alive." Blackstar replied.

For a few moments, Echostorm just looked at him, a shocked expression on his face. "You've got to be kidding me," he growled. "The only way I would be meeting you is if I was..."

"...Able to speak with StarClan," The StarClan cat finished for him. "I know that. You and five other cats have been chosen to...relocate."

Echostorm's look of hostility and suspicion turned into one of curiousity. "What do you mean by relocate? What's wrong with where we are now?"

Blackstar sighed and looked at him straight in the eyes. "Have you ever heard the story of the Great Journey that ShadowClan, WindClan, RiverClan, and ThunderClan made many seasons ago?"

The tom thought for a second and then nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact. Grayrain -she was an elder when I was a kit- would tell Crystalheart and I stories about it all the time before she died. She said she was kin of the cat Ashfur, who was one of the warriors who made the journey. She also said it was because Twolegs destoryed your old homes."

"I see," Blackstar replied. "Well then, you should know what I mean by history is about to repeat itself."

"The Clans are going to have to move?"

"No," he shook his head. "Twolegs are about to ruin your lives. Like I said, you and five other cats are going to have to leave here. You must start a new life."

Echostorm tilted his head to one side. "Wait, so only six of us will survive?"

Blackstar smirked. "You have many questions, Echostorm. No, there will be more than six of you. Each of you may choose one cat to come with you, so you'll have enough cats to hunt and if need be, defend your borders."

Echostorm nodded as he took this all in. He was a bit overwhelmed, but he didn't dare reveal that to his ancestor. When Blackstar had finished, Echostorm mewed, "Has StarClan chosen who will be leader?"

The old leader snorted in amusement. "No, Echostorm, we haven't chosen. You all must come to that decision on your own. As for the position of medicine cat, if one of you don't choose a medicine cat or medicine cat apprentice, StarClan will decide that."

_We choose, huh? _Echostorm thought. _I'll have to make sure to prove myself to the others that I would be a good choice for leader!_

As if he was reading his mind, Blackstar added, "Don't think about showing off to become leader, either. In my opinion, you're still too young. There will be other warriors that are much stronger and wiser than you on this journey, so don't think you're the superior one."

The TreeClan warriror felt his ears grow hot with embarassment as his kin lectured him. "Well, can you tell me what kind of 'strong and wise' warriors are travelling with me?"

"I can't tell you who, but I can tell you this much. The other five cats that have been chosen are apprentices."

"I'm the only warrior?" Echostorm yowled. He didn't want to be stuck with wet behind the ears apprentices!"

Blackstar hissed. "Let me finish! They're about ten or eleven moons old, so they're not as young as you're thinking they are. The cats they choose to accompany them haven't been determined yet, as they're being told this by other leaders around this time."

Echostorm sighed, but nodded. "I see. All right, is that all?"

As if to answer his question, Blackstar began fading away. Once he had vanished, a tiny bramble had appeared. Padding over to it, Echostorm noticed a small wisp of smoke coming from the center. Suddenly, there was a tiny ember that soon grew into a large wildfire. Yowling in fear and surprise, Echostorm tried to get away from it, but it soon had surrounded him on all sides, burning the bushes and four trees that were on the island.

"Blackstar!" he screeched helplessly. "Blackstar, where are you?! Help!" He looked around to see if the ancient tom had heard him, but all he saw was flame and smoke. When he looked up at the starless sky, he noticed that some of the smoke had morphed into a cat's head.

"Fire was a common enemy for the four ancient Clans," Blackstar's voice echoed all across the area. "That hasn't changed, Echostorm. Remember that."

Echostorm gasped as he awoke from his trance-like state. Looking around, he saw that the burning island had turned back into the peaceful forest. Shaking his head to clear his mind, the warrior turned around to set back for camp. He had only been speaking with Blackstar for a short time, but it felt like he had been in the middle of the roaring flames for moons. All he wanted to do now was to go back and get some rest.

As he entered through the entrance of the camp, he noticed that Mistpelt and Crystalheart were sharing tounges by the fresh-kill pile while Leafstar and Miraclepool were discussing border patrols. Turning at the sound of rustling leaves, he saw that Silverleaf and Stormpaw were behind him, coming back to camp with their mouths full of herbs.

"Hello, Echostorm," Silverleaf meowed through the dock he had in his mouth. "Are you all right? You seem a bit skittish."

Echostorm forced and smile and replied, "I'm fine. It's just from...lack of sleep."

The medicine cat gave him a doubtful look, but nodded. "I see. Don't push yourself too hard, you hear? You just recently became a warrior, so don't expect to be able to have the capacity of doing all the things that the older ones can do."

Echostorm nodded and continued over towards his friend and sister. Once they saw them, they stopped grooming each other and stood up.

"Hey, Echostorm!" Crystalheart mewed. "Where have you been? You should have seen what wen on!"

Echostorm tilted his head to one side. "What happened? Nothing bad, right?"

Mistpelt shrugged. "I guess it wasn't terrible, it just was a bit...unexpected.'

"What happened?" Echostorm repeated, becoming impatient. Had what Blackstar warned him about all ready begin?

"Ravenfeather, a warrior from LakeClan came into camp," the silver she-cat continued. "He looked terrible, even more skinny than the LakeClan was at the Gathering half a moon ago. He wanted to see Leafstar, but didn't have the strength to climb the Highledge, so they met in the middle of camp. Of course, all of the Clan surrounded them to hear what was going on."

"What had happened was the apparently the Twolegs had poisoned the fish in the lake." Crystalheart picked up where her friend left off. "It was the reason behind Summerstar's strange behavior at the Gathering. As a matter of fact, he lost a life from it. Also, Shadepaw was klled by the disease. Ravenfeather said Hawkpool can't find a cure for it. Silverleaf offered to help, but both Leafstar and Ravenfeather said no because they didn't want the sickness to spread to the other Clans. Apparently he wanted to warn us not to drink the water from the lake or the river that flows to the Moonpool."

Echostorm's ears pricked. "Wait, so does that mean the medicine cats can't go to the Moonpool? I mean, what if it's poisoned as well?"

Both the she-cats exchanged glances. "That's the thing," Mistpelt whispered. "They don't know what to do. It's not like we can completely isolate ourselves from StarClan!"

_Don't worry, _he thought. _StarClan still speaks to us. _

"But what was really surprising was Leafstar's reaction," Mistpelt meowed. "Whne he finished, she looked really afraid of something. I heard her say 'I'm sorry, but TreeClan can't help in any way. The last time that one Clan helped another through a time like that, the Clan died out."

"Was she talking about the four ancient Clans?"

"We think so," Crystalheart replied. "That's probably how TreeClan, LakeClan, and MeadowClan became what they are today. One of the four Clans must have died out. But what made the other three change their names?"

Echostorm shrugged. "Who knows? That was seasons ago." Inside, he was scolding himself for not asking Blackstar about what happened to their ancestors. "I'm going to get some rest. You two should as well. Maybe Leafstar will explain tomorrow." With that, he turned towards the warriors den.

Suddenly, he froze in his tracks and it hit im. He had to figure out which cat he would take on the journey. But there was only one problem, he realized.

Mistpelt or Crystalheart?

**I know, I'm evil. I killed an apprentice and am making Echostorm have to choose between the cat he loves and his sister. **

**But let me tell you Echostorm, Mistpelt isn't the cat for joo! I'm sure my beta knows what I mean. XD**

**Anyway, this is pretty random, but a friend of mine asked me about where I got the ideas for the cats, so I thought I would tell y'all. **

**All the cats' personalities are based off of my friends, teachers, etc. Their appearances are based off of cats I've seen and my friends' ideas, except Ravenfeather. Ravenfeather's appearance is based off of my favorite Beanie Baby (Yes, you can love your kitty Beanie Baby at thirteen) that I got when I was four. I named him Raven, but I used to have trouble with my 'R's, so for two years, he was call 'Waven'. XD**

**I love my Raven... Review and you can huggle him!**

**Sachi maro ****oomeni no suki! **

**AliKatNyah**


	10. Chapter 7

**A/N: AliKat's back! Told y'all that I would find a way to update sooner. :D Anyway, enjoy!**

**Oh, and just to prevent confusion, when you see a divider, that means I've switched third person POV's on y'all. ,**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Warriors.**

_Amberpaw tensed when a she-cat approached the group. She was all black, other than her paws, ear tips, and tail tip, which were all white. The cat didn't smell like a rouge, but she didn't quite smell like a kittypet either. _Loner,_ the tabby thought with distaste. _

_"What do you want?" she heard Echostorm growl._

_The she-cat nodded towards him and replied, "I don't mean any harm this time, I just noticed you all coming out of the forest...or what's left of the forest." She turned towards where a dark cloud of smoke was rising up from where TreeClan territory used to be. "Are you twelve what's left?" _

_"What's it to you?!" Amberpaw spat. "We don't need to tell you anything!" _

_"Well sorry for being concerned!" Cassie snarled. _

_Amberpaw hissed as a black tom stepped between the two. "Easy now," Ravenfeather sighed. "We don't mean any trouble, Cassie. We're just a little overwhelmed right now."_

_"What happened?" Cassie asked again, the fire still in her eyes. _

_"It's a long story," Echostorm muttered. _

_"Well, we have time." she calmed down the moment Echostorm spoke. "Come with me. I know somewhere we can speak."_

Amberpaw flinched when her dream faded like the morning mist. Looking at the tom in front of her, she mewed, "Cassie? What does she have to do with the prophecy?"

"Quite a bit, unfortunately." Tigerstar growled. "The blasted cat will have a hobby of interfering while you're traveling. Remember to never trust her, no matter what happens."

The apprentice nodded and sat down. "Echostorm and Ravenfeather...They'll be on the journey as well. Can you tell me the others?"

"No. You'll find out by yourself. Gain the trust of each and every chosen cat and remember what I told you; choose a cat that won't be a burden."

She tilted her head to one side. "Why 'gain their trust' as you say it?" she asked.

"If you want to be respected, you must gain the trust of your Clan. When you are a warrior, this will help you greatly." The tabby sounded impatient.

Amberpaw nodded, although it didn't really answer her question. "Are we going to train tonight?"

As if to answer her question, both cats turned at the sound of paw steps to see a tabby tom with piercing blue eyes and a white chest and underbelly approach them. When he stopped beside Tigerstar, Amberpaw bowed her head respectfully and mewed, "Hello, Hawkfrost."

"Greetings, Amberpaw," he replied. "Are you prepared?"

She answered by crouching down. "Claws sheathed or unsheathed?"

"Unsheathed," Tigerstar meowed. "Let's see how far you've come."

Amberpaw nodded and began pacing around Hawkfrost. When she finally found a spot she thought she could leave a mark at, the apprentice quickly pounced him, crashing into his ribs. Unfortunately, it seemed like he expected it, for he immediately rolled over, crushing her. Suddenly, as soon as the tom's weight was on her, it was removed. Looking up she noticed that Hawkfrost had returned to his docile state.

"Wake up," he ordered.

Amberpaw gasped as her eyes flew open to reveal the apprentices den in TreeClan. As she attempted to get up, she winced at the pain she received from Hawkfrost nearly crushing her. Although it was slightly painful, she was disappointed that her training was cut short. Why had Hawkfrost ordered her to wake up? And as a matter of fact, why didn't she ask Tigerstar how Echostorm seemed to know that she-cat?

"Amberpaw!" she turned to see Blackpaw bound into the den. "Angerstrike wants you to wake up. We're getting an assessment today!"

She nodded and forced herself up, despite the pain. Following her den mate outside, she took in a quick breath of fresh air and walked over to her mentor.

Angerstrike nodded in approval. "Good, you're awake. I assume Blackpaw told you that you have a hunting assessment today."

"Yes." She mewed as she looked to see Snowpaw, Gentlepaw, and Blackpaw speaking to their mentors. "How long do we have?"

"Until sunhigh," the warrior looked at the sky, as did Amberpaw, to see that it was about dawn.

"You may hunt together or alone; your choice." Icestorm, Blackpaw's mentor, added.

"I want say we hunt together," Snowpaw meowed. "That way we have a better chance at catching prey." He smiled when Blackpaw and Gentlepaw agreed.

Amberpaw shook her head. "We should be in a patrol. Sure, we might be able to back each other up when hunting, but we'll catch more prey if we split up."

"Aw, you always disagree!" Blackpaw growled. Looking at the other apprentices, he hissed, "Let's go; just the three of us. We don't need her."

Amberpaw shrank slightly when the others nodded and walked towards the camp entrance. Sure, she was not the best when it came to a good attitude, but she was desperate. For the past quarter moon, she had realized how much her Clan mates meant to her and the fact that she was horrid towards the others whether they were an apprentice, kit, or warrior.

"Amberpaw?" Shadowpelt mewed as his red gaze focused on her. She didn't reply though; she just simply walked into the forest.

Once she was deep into the forest, Amberpaw forced herself to stop sulking and start hunting. Drinking in the air, she quickly picked out the scent of a finch. Sure enough, the small bird was under a tree, pecking at the ground. Dropping into a crouch, she slowly crept up to it until she was in striking distance. She then jumped up in the air and pounced on the creature, taking its life with one quick bite to the throat.

_I'm glad hunting is so simple, _she thought as she covered the body with dirt.

--

Cassie growled as the squirrel she was stalking ran up a nearby tree. "Why can't this be simpler!" she spat in frustration. It had been like this for the past moon. The she-cat had left her housefolk due to the fact that she absolutely hated the comfortable life. She knew that it would be hard surviving on her own, but Cassie had underestimated the difficulty. She was extremely good at catching mice and rabbits, but she needed to widen her choice of food. After all, she would tell herself, there won't always be mice and rabbits running around in the place you'll be in.

Giving up on the hunting expedition, she focused on finding a place to rest for the night. As she got farther and farther into the strange territory, Cassie began to feel uneasy. It felt as if someone was watching her, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Halting to a stop, she snarled and yowled, "Whoever you are, come out so I can rip your fur off!"

Suddenly, a large white tom with black paws stepped out of the brush. "So you think that you can rip my fur off, trespasser?" he growled, unsheathing his claws.

"Trespasser?" she repeated. "This isn't your territory!"

"You're right," he sneered. "It isn't _my _territory; it's TreeClan's."

"Tree_Clan_?" she spat. "Yeah right. Clans are just stories mothers tell their kits so they won't wander to far from home."

"Believe what you will, but you will leave." The tom crouched down, ready to fight.

"I won't be the one leaving!" Cassie yowled defiantly and echoed his stance.

Neither one was sure which cat attacked first, but soon they were a black and white blur of screeching and caterwauling. Cassie smirked as she landed a hard blow to his head with he claws, but that look of confidence turned to one of pain as she felt his jaws close on her throat, cutting off her airways.

"Echostorm!" Cassie heard a yowl and the snapping of twigs. "What in StarClan's name are you doing?"

To her relief, the she-cat's voice caused Echostorm to release his grip as he turned to face the newcomer. Cassie saw a two she-cats; one silver with dark gray stripes and the other white with black ears. The silver one had rushed to Cassie's side and attempted to lick the wound. Cassie let her, apparently too weak to say otherwise.

"You're not suppose to kill other cats in battle! It's against the warrior code!" the white one growled at Echostorm.

"She was trespassing! Besides, the kittypet was being hostile and I thought..." Echostorm shook his head as he stopped speaking.

Despite her being injured, Cassie hissed and her fur bristled. "I'm no 'kittywhatever'!"

"If you don't know what it means, how do you know you're not one?" he retorted.

"I'm not stupid! I know when someone is insulting me Echostorm!" His name sounded strange to her as it rolled off of her tongue.

"A kittypet is a Clan's name for a cat that lives with Twolegs," the silver she-cat calmly explained.

"You mean housefolk?" she muttered and forced herself up. "As much as I hate to retreat, I'll leave you three alone." With that, she turned around and began walking away.

"Wait!" Cassie turned tail again to see Echostorm. "Where do you live?"

She glared at him. "Anywhere. What's it to you?"

He stopped and looked at his paws before meowing, "Well, it's just...It takes a lot of guts to take on a warrior when you're not one yourself and I...I respect you for that."

She snorted. "What's with the sudden change in attitude? I thought you hated me."

He snarled. "I'm just trying to make things right!"

"Hey, calm down!" she laughed. "I was kidding around. The name's Cassie by the way. Former houseca- er, kittypet."

Echostorm nodded. "Echostorm, you didn't hear." He looked at the she-cats. "And this is Mistpelt, the silver and gray one, and Crystalheart, my sister. Do you need somewhere to stay for the night? We could take you to our Clan's camp and ask Leafstar if you could sleep there."

Although it sounded tempting, she shook her head. "Poppycock. I'm not going to a camp owned by something that doesn't exist. Thank you for the offer, though. Maybe we'll meet again. Goodbye Echostorm, Crystalheart, Mistpelt." She nodded towards each cat before bounding off. Once she had gotten out of earshot of the three, she muttered, "I've never seen wierder cats in my entire life. That Echostorm was something though."

**A/N: Yes, Cassie said 'poppycock'. I made her say it because it's a theory of mine that kittypets pick up some of their Twolegs' language. Aand there's the fact that I love that word for some reason. xD**

**Please Review! I didn't get ANY for the last chapter and that kinda ticks me off, people...**

**  
Oh, and Blanket of Darkness, tell me if Cassie didn't come out the way you wanted her to.**

**Itsumademo Itachi Funsai,**

**AliKatNyah**


	11. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry for not updating! Crowfeathers Lover asked a great question in a review. Soo...I decided to put the answer in here. :D**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Warriors.**

"That's not true!" Speckledpaw yowled. "That can't be true!"

"But it is," a blue-gray she-cat mewed in front of her as the spotted golden she-cat and the black and white tom on both of her sides nodded.

"Why would the Twolegs choose now to kill us off?" Birdpaw asked.

"They won't intentionally kill you," Tallstar explained. "They're irresponsible when it comes to treating that land that isn't their Twolegplaces good."

"You have a quarter moon to prepare," Leopardstar added. "In that time, you three must choose one cat to accompany you each. When that time is up, you will meet with the cats after the Gathering. Do you understand?"

Speckledpaw looked at her den mates as she nodded. Birdpaw's sightless eyes were wide with shock while Tallpaw was apparently lost in thought, his head bowed.

"Bluestar," Birdpaw finally broke the silence. "Why did you choose me? In case you've forgotten, I'm blind."

Bluestar smiled and rested her tail on Bluepaw's shoulder. "I know, Birdpaw, I know. But, you need to stop underestimating yourself. I believe you have the strength to make it through this journey. Besides, your friends will help you on the way."

Birdpaw nodded. Although she couldn't look at Tallpaw and Speckledpaw, she understood. Tallpaw was always friendly towards her and listened when she needed to talk. Speckledpaw on the other hand...She wasn't sure about the spotted she-cat. Ever since the fight they got in during the patrol, the two hadn't been that kind towards each other.

"You may choose one cat each to go with you," Tallstar meowed. "Other than that, there is nothing else to say."

"Wait!" Tallpaw yowled.

"What is it?"

"I've been wondering. If you three are from ThunderClan, RiverClan, and WindClan, and TreeClan, MeadowClan, and LakeClan are descendants of the four ancient clans, then why isn't there still Shadow, Thunder, River, and Wind Clans?"

Birdpaw shifted weight from one paw to the other as Tallpaw's question was met with silence. Finally, as if some silent agreement was made, the she-cat heard Bluestar mew, "Very well then. We shall show you."

"Wait, show?" she stood up. "What do you mean 'show'? You're just going to tell us, right?"

"I'm sorry, Birdpaw," The ThunderClan leader's voice leaked sympathy. "I'm afraid that you'll have to sit this one out."

Birdpaw snorted with anger and sat back down. _Why can't they just tell us! It's not like it's forbidden,_ she thought as Leopardstar quietly gave Tallpaw and Speckledpaw instrutctions.

**Speckledpaw's POV**

"Walk over by this pool and look into the waters," Speckledpaw moved with her ancestor's instructions. Peering over the edge of the land that surrounded the water, Speckledpaw looked to see a faint image of their home forming. Suddenly, she felt her stomach lurch as she was sucked in. Strangely, she didn't feel the water around her, but felt the cool breeze as she and her Clan mate landed by the lake.

"Did they send us back home?" Tallpaw wondered.

"They better not have!" she spat angrily. "They said that they would show us and they better!"

"Wait," Speckledpaw stopped her ranting as Tallpaw lifted his head in the air. "These cats scents aren't Tree, Meadow, or Lake. Do you think maybe they belong to one of the ancient Clans?"

"It's worth a try. Let's find out." With that, the golden apprentice dashed towards the source of the strange scent. Soon, their investigating took them to what was -or what was soon to be- TreeClan camp. Instead of Leafstar on the Highledge, though, was a gray warrior. By the looks of things, Speckledpaw guessed that they were having a Clan meeting.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Tallpaw asked.

"Be quiet and we'll find out!" she hissed in reply and turned her attention back to the cats.

"...And so, it is my sad duty to report that Bramblestar, Tawnypelt, Crowfeather, and Pebblestream were indeed guilty of killing Reedwhisker of RiverClan, Russetstar of ShadowClan, Breezepath of WindClan, and Birchfall of ThunderClan." At the mention of the killers, howls of rage were sent up towards the sky, while when the victims were named off, nothing was said or done out of respect and sorrow.

"I am glad to say that the four cats have been exiled," he continued. "Their chance of survival in the Twolegplace are slim." Cries of joy were heard this time.

"Wait!" a reddish tom stood up after the noise had died down.

"Yes, Foxtail?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that these dark times are passing, but what will we do about the Clan?" Foxtail meowed. "What's left of ShadowClan is joining ThunderClan, but we don't have enough room in the camp to support all of us. How will we fix that, Ashfur?"

"I have already decided," Ashfur replied. "After Jayfeather and I go to the Moonpool so I can recieve my nine lives, we will start on a new camp, in between ThunderClan and ShadowClan's territory. Also, we will not be known as ThunderClan any more. Nightstar, Beechstar, and I have agreed that the four cats have brought too much shame onto the Clan names. ThunderClan and ShadowClan will now be known as TreeClan, WindClan will be known as MeadowClan, and RiverClan will be called LakeClan. The territories will change as well, seeing as there shall only be three instead of four."

"That's completely mouse-brained!" a black, white, and tortoiseshell she-cat yowled. "Surely StarClan won't permit it! There was always meant to be four Clans!"

"StarClan will permit it, Ivytail," Ashfur growled. "After all, StarClan is now half occupied by young warriors. Do you not think that Owleyes would agree?"

At the mention of a warrior's name, Speckledpaw noticed that Ivytail flinched and sat back down, silent.

"How can we know that we can trust our medicine cat and two of our warriors?" A gray and white tom hissed as he looked at the gray cat known as Jayfeather, a ginger tom, and a black she-cat. "After all, they're the kits of Bramblestar."

"But they also are the grand-kits of Firestar," Ashfur retorted. "Jayfeather, Lionclaw, and Hollywhisker can be trusted. They are not anything like their father." At this, Speckledpaw noticed a ginger she-cat with a white paw nodded at stared down any cat who showed their disagreement.

"Will our kits be safe while we work on the new camp?" a white she-cat meowed as a white and gray speckled kit sat at her side.

"The queens and kits will stay at the old camp while some warriors and apprentices go to work on the new one. Others will stay to guard you all. Rest assured, Whitewing. Nothing will happen to you or to Blizzardkit. I'll make sure of it." Reassured by her mate's words, Speckledpaw watched Whitewing lead Blizzardkit back into the nursery.

"All right then," Ashfur yowled to the others. "Jayfeather and I will leave for the Moonpool. I will be back tomorrow and may StarClan be with us all." With that, he and Jayfeather walked through the exit and towards the Moonpool.

As Speckledpaw and Tallpaw turned to follow the two, the scene melted and returned to the valley they were in, with Birdpaw, Bluestar, Tallstar, and Leopardstar waiting for them.

"How was it?" Birdpaw asked.

"I agree with Ivytail!" Speckledpaw spat, ignoring the blue-gray apprentice. "That is the most mouse-brained thing I've ever heard! So what if the cats brought them shame? The elders tell stories about Tigerstar over and over and they never mention anything about ThunderClan changing its name over that!"

"Maybe they had more reasons then they let on.." Leopardstar murmered.

"You all have seen and heard enough," Tallstar rasped. "It is time to wake up. Oh, and Tallpaw, good luck on your fighting assessment today."

The last thing Speckledpaw heard before everything went black was Tallpaw mewing, "What assessment?"

**Yeah, yeah, it's short. Anyway, I hope this sorta answers your question, Crowfeathers Lover. I know that I kinda made it obvious that that was only half of the story, but it told the interesting parts! Oh, and leave me alone about the names. I know they suck. Jayfeather seemed right, Lionclaw has a nice ring to it, I could care less about Hollywhisker...Oh, and I apologize about Breezepaw's warrior name, but what do you want me to do? Breeze is a hard name, people. - Anyway, I'll stop attacking you people with my sugar rush and go eat more dango. :P**

**AliKatNyah**

**P.S. Oh, and one more thing, notice how out of the four cats that killed one from each of their Clans, two are children of Tigerstar and three are cats of the Prophecy in the**_**New Prophecy**___**series.**

**Yes, I had Crowfeather kill his son. Excuse me for feeling sadistic tonight, or today, or whatever. Frickin jet lag... Anyway, please review!**


	12. Chapter 9

**Alrighty, I'm back. Once again, REALLY sorry for the hiatus. Life has just been getting in the way. I'll start updating a little more, because the school computers allow us to go into Google Documents, so I can work on the chapter in school and at home. Anyways, if you haven't read all of **_**Eclipse **_**yet, you may not understand a teeny-tiny part of Blackstar's dialoug, so get creative! Those of you who have read the whole book, wasn't it great? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors.**

Echostorm sighed as he watched the sun rise from the limb of a tree. Tomorrow night was the night he met with the other cats. The only problem was he hadn't picked the cat that would accompany him. Crystalheart or Mistpelt? Kin or love? Or should he think about choosing a different cat? He had tried to contact Blackstar in his dreams, but failed. It seemed as though StarClan was enjoying his torment when it came to a decision such as this.

He watched apathetically as the dawn patrol was walking back towards the camp. _What's the point of patrolling the borders? _he thought. _They're all going to die anyway. _

After a few more minutes, he scrambled down the tree and took the same path the patrol had to get back to camp. When the tom reached his destination, he looked around, noting how carefree his Clan mates seemed. His yellow eyes soon found Crystalheart and Mistpelt sharing tongues. The mere sight made him grow angry. _Why can we only choose one cat?!_

"Hello Echostorm!" Mistpelt's voice knocked him out of his thoughts. "You've been gone a while."

He shrugged. "I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep."

"That's weird," Crystalheart teased. "Usually you can't wake up!"

The tom merely snorted. "I'm going to go get something to eat," he threw over his shoulder as he walked off.

When he reached the fresh-kill pile, he selected a vole. He was hoping that the two she-cats would've said or done something that would show which cat he should choose. But, obviously, they were just saying the usual things; Mistpelt firing up a conversation and Crystalheart teasing him when she got the chance. _Maybe I can just bring both of them, _he mused. _It's not like Blackstar can come down from StarClan and stop me! _

Just as he said this, he noticed a flicker of white out of the corner of his eye. Turning around, he saw a ghost of his warrior ancestor. "Blackstar!" he breathed.

The tom just merely nodded. "I couldn't help but to hear about the solution to your dilemma," he rumbled.

"Well why can't I bring two?" he growled. "They're both capable warriors, so one extra wouldn't be much of a burden!"

"Think, Echostorm. If you wanted to bring two, then you would change your mind and want to bring three. Then four. Then eventually, the whole Clan."

"So?" Echostorm was quickly becoming frustrated with the ShadowClanner. "That's good! Then we could all survive!"

"I know that's what you want," Blackstar meowed, "but you must realize that StarClan doesn't want the Clans to be destroyed. If we could, we would use all of our power to stop it. But, cats are going to die, no matter what anyone says. It's better for only a select few to survive instead of everyone dying."

Echostorm stared at his larger reflection. "So, let me get this straight. StarClan saw all of the cats being killed and decided to spare two, but not the whole Clan? That makes absolutely no sense!"

The leader snorted. "You still aren't understanding."

"I think I am!" he protested. "You all are just picking favorites and watching the others die-

"Would you shut up?" Blackstar cut him off. "You're worse than a kit! StarClan saw the Clans being destroyed. But, prophecy or no prophecy, you would have survived. It's not my or any other cat's doing, it's just pure dumb luck! We are giving you a chance to save someone close to you! If you choose a cat and then leave by moonhigh tomorrow, you and that cat will survive!"

Echostorm paused before nodding. "I highly doubt it's 'dumb luck', but I suppose I'll go with it."

Blackstar growled. "You doubt StarClan?"

"Surely you've doubted your ancestors before!"

A strange light glittered in his eyes. "Of course I have." Before Echostorm could say anything else, he dissapeared.

"Blackstar?" he looked around. "Blackstar!" He scanned the area quickly, hoping the old leader had returned. _No! Have I made him angry? _

"Who in StarClan's name is Blackstar?" Crystalheart asked as she padded up to him.

"No one important." He quickly replied_. Just a StarClan cat that told me my whole Clan is going to die except for me and another cat_.

His sister stared at him, disbelief in her eyes, but just simply shrugged. "Alright, if you say so."

Echostorm nodded and turned to go to his favorite sunning spot. As he padded over to the outskirts of the camp, he froze feeling as if someone -or something- was watching him. Turning, his eyes locked with those belonging to an old gray cat. His hackles raised as he realized what that look in those piercing yellow eyes meant.

Silverleaf saw him speaking with Blackstar.

-------

"Why do apprentices have to do all of this?" Amberpaw grumbled as she shook a strand of moss off of her claw.

"Well, it kinda makes sense," Blackpaw reasoned. "After all, warriors are the ones that do most of the hunting and defending the Clans and things like that. We're just training."

"Still!" she protested. "It's not fair!"

"Are you two almost done in there?" Oceanspray meowed from outside the nursery. "I would like to go back inside sometime today."

"We'll be done in a minute!" Amberpaw snapped. She heard the she-cat snort, but Oceanspray said nothing.

The blue-ish she-cat had just recently moved into the nursery, and Leafstar gave Amberpaw and Blackpaw the "privlege" of having their first task of changing the bedding. Neither of them were happy about it, but of course, Amberpaw was the only one who complained about it in Leafstar's face. This earned her a clout on the head from Angerstrike. Now she was taking her anger out on the Oceanspray, Blackpaw, and the moss.

"Finally!" she growled as they walked away from the nursery. "I thought we'd never be finished!"

Blackpaw shrugged. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, this will be the only time we have to do it. I mean, by the time we get out of here and find a new home, we'll be warriors."

Amberpaw grunted her agreement. The tabby had done as Tigerstar said and picked a cat that wouldn't be a burden. Blackpaw was a excellent hunter and the two had slowly become friends. At first, he didn't believe her when she explained the prophecy and she was sure he still didn't, but he agreed to come and that's all Amberpaw(and Tigerstar) wanted.

"Blackpaw!" Icestorm padded up to the two apprentices. "Come. We're going to go practice some fighting skills."

Blackpaw's eyes immediately lit up as he nodded. "Bye Amberpaw!" he called back as he followed his mentor into the forest.

Amberpaw sighed. "Lucky..." she muttered. The only thing Angerstrike did with her today was take her on a patrol and yowl at her for being disprespectful to the leader. She merely shrugged, though. _I'll be rid of him soon enough. _The thought made her freeze. Was she just happy that her mentor was going to die?

-------

A dark tail could be seen moving through the heather as Cassie padded around the forest, still not checking for Clan boundries. "That Echostorm was crazy anyway," she told herself earlier. But, he had made her more wary of other cats.

She perked her ears as she heard the distant barking of a dog. "Just what I need," she grumbled, forcing her tail down as the dog's bark became louder and louder. She quickly scrambled through the heather until she saw a tree about five fox lengths away. Turning around, she saw a large black dog rumbling towards her. Cassie let out a hiss and dashed towards the tree.

As the loner steadied hersef on a limb, she noticed that the dog hadn't even seen her. "Dumb dog," she began to mutter, but stopped short when she saw about three Twolegs following the dog, yowling and whistling. In each of their large paws was a shiny metal stick.

"This should be interesting," she mused as she watched the Twolegs and their dog head towards a large meadow.

They dissapeared from her sight, so Cassie slithered down the tree and resumed with her walk.

Suddenly, there was a caterwaul, and loud explosion, and then all was quiet again.

**Well, there it is! Hope you like it! **

**Keep your friends close but your enemies closer, **

**~AliKatNyah**


	13. Chapter 10

**Yes! I got this in before I had to go to Rochester! Anyways, just to make it simple and sweet, you'll see the usual, some of it in the point of view of a prophecy cat, then Cassie, but in this chapter, you have a surprise! Then end is in Miraclepool and Leafstar's point of view! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors. If I did, Firestar would have gotten a Death Note a LONG time ago. **

Birdpaw paced uneasily as the moon rose in the dark, starless sky. A few mouse-lengths away from her was Tallpaw, Specklepaw, and the cats they chose; Forestgaze, Crookedtail, and Firestorm. Running around the six cats were Firestorm's kits, Sunkit and Rainkit. To them, this was one huge adventure. _If only they knew, _Birdpaw thought grimly.

"If we need to get there by moonhigh, then we'd better leave now," Forestgaze mewed after what seemed like moons.

Birdpaw nodded and drank in the air, scenting Tallpaw and Crookedtail on either side of her. She followed when she felt their pelts brush hers. As they were walking away from camp, she felt a sudden pang of sadness. For one reason, she had never seen her old home and now she was leaving it. The other, after Stonepelt and Windfang had been killed by the Twoleg's dog and metal sticks, Silverstar would be horrified, if not furious, to lose eight cats, including the medicine cat.

"We're almost there, kits." She heard Firestorm purr to Rainkit and Sunkit, who were complaining about the trip to the island. "Remember though, we'll have a long way to go from there. So don't concentrate on your hurting paws."

Birdpaw tensed when she realized the ginger and black queen was right. She could smell the water, mixed with the scents of other Clans. "The others are already on the island," she mewed to her mentor.

"Yes," he replied, his mew sounding uneasy. "These are the other prophetic cats, right?"

It had taken a lot to convince the three cats that they chose that the prophecy was for real. As a matter of fact, Forestgaze marched down the the Moonpool and confronted StarClan herself on it. Thankfully, she came back, saying she met Tallstar, who told her the same thing he, Bluestar, and Leopardstar told Birdpaw, Tallpaw, and Speckledpaw.

"About time!" she heard an impatient as she jumped off of the fallen tree. It had been there for many seasons, and she always feared that it would break suddenly as she was going across it, but thankfully, it never did.

"Hello, Gingerpaw," she heard Tallpaw mew.

Leaning closer to Crookedtail, she whispered, "Who are all here?"

"Gingerpaw and Minnowpaw from LakeClan," he replied, "and Echostorm, Amberpaw, Blackpaw, and Mistpelt from TreeClan."

She felt a gaze burn into her. "You brought a _blind _cat to come on the journey with us?"

"No, Amberpaw," Echostorm meowed. "I think she is one of the chosen cats. Blackstar said I was the only warrior that was chosen and that there was six cats. It makes sense."

Bluepaw heard a grunt of disbelief. "Well, _I'm _not going out of my way to make sure she doesn't get hopelessly lost."

"Nobody asked you to," the blue tinged apprentice replied, a slight edge to her voice. "As a matter of fact, I can take care of myself."

"Right..."

"Now, Amberpaw," a soft voice came out of the air, "maybe she can take care of herself. I would assume that her other senses are better since she can't see."

"You shouldn't defend other Clans, Mistpelt." Amberpaw growled. "And don't treat me like a kit!"

"This is going to be a long journey," she heard Tallpaw mutter.

-------

Amberpaw snorted as Mistpelt ended the argument by turning her back on the tabby and walking over to Echostorm. She was only about a moon younger than Mistpelt, so the silver cat had no right to order her around! _Besides, _she thought. _I'm a cat of a prophecy. I'm more powerful then she'll ever be, no matter what ranking she acheives!_

"Are we ready to go?" Minnowpaw of LakeClan mewed. "Everyone's here, after all."

"MeadowClan's ready," Crookedtail meowed, but turned to the medicine cat. "Forestgaze?"

The bracken-colored she-cat was watching the storm clouds that had rolled in apprehensively. She snapped back into reality suddenly and looked at Crookedtail. "This storm does not bode well for the Clans," she mewed.

Amberpaw snorted. "What do you mean? It's just an old storm. They come and go all the time!" Suddenly, she felt a sharp blow to the head. Turning around, she saw Echostorm glaring at her.

"Don't speak to a medicine cat like that!" he scolded. "It could have been a sign from StarClan for all we know!"

The she-cat let out a snarl. "Stop treating me like a kit! I'll say whatever I want to her! She's not Silverleaf, after all."

"Hey, you two." Blackpaw stepped in between them. "Calm down. Forestgaze, did StarClan speak?"

Forestgaze studied her paws for a moment, obviously confused. "I saw six pairs of eyes. They didn't have bodies, but the colors were very bright. Green, blue, two pairs of amber, and two pairs of yellow."

"That's it?" Amberpaw meowed dryly.

"No. All together, as if they had the same voice, they said 'It is time'."

"I suppose that means it's time for us to leave," Speckledpaw suggested, looking around at the cats. All were in the small huddle other than Firestorm, who was watching over her kits as they slept, but listening nonetheless.

Amberpaw did the same, she took in, with slight surprise, that Ravenfeather wasn't there._ I suppose Tigerstar was wrong. Maybe he can't see everything as clearly as he says. _

Suddenly, there was a loud rumble of thunder. Looking up at the sky Amberpaw noticed a large bolt of lightning. Before any of the cats could even breathe, the bolt came into contact with the earth; right into TreeClan territory. _Did they mean that it was time to leave, _she thought, _or time for the Clans to be destroyed? _

-------

Cassie let out a sharp yowl of surprise as a lightning bolt crashed into the clearing many fox lengths away. "That was some lightning!" she breathed, crawling out of the old badger set she had made shelter in for the night. Suddenly, she perked her ears, taking in a scent that made her cough seconds after she drank it in. _Smoke. _The forest was on fire! Immediately waking up, she dashed away, wanting to get as far away from the flames as she could. She stopped by the lake, the island in clear veiw. Catching her breath, she heard the sound of cats talking. Curious, she walked closer to the island.

When she reached the log that could be used as a bridge to the island, she saw the shadows of different cats. She bent her ears back in recognition to one of the voices. _It's that strange cat Echostorm,_ she mused. _I wonder if those two she-cats are with him as well. _With that, she bravely jumped onto the log, sank her claws, into the bark, and slithered across it. When she jumped off, there was a growl.

"It's a kittypet!"

-------

Leafstar woke up with a start when she heard the loud boom of thunder. "Great StarClan, what a storm," she muttered. She got up and stretched, but before she could lay back down, a disgusting scent filled her nose. "Smoke!" the leader yelled. Running towards the entrance of her den, she almost rammed into her deputy, but stopped, their noses almost touching.

"Leafstar!" Miraclepool yowled. "The lightning bolt hit the nursery and is spreading- the whole camp is on fire!"

The light brown tabby's eyes widened and she dashed out onto the Highledge, sure enough, flames had quickly consumed the camp. The leader began trembling as she heard the dying wails of her Clan mates. Whirling around, she saw Miraclepool. "Come! We must help them!" Before the tortoiseshell could say anything to her, Leafstar jumped down into the camp, facing the flames bravely as she tried to find the surviving cats. She felt Miraclepool's presence at her side, ready for orders.

"Miraclepool," she let out the beginning of an order. "Go check in the medicine cat's den; make sure Silverleaf and Stormtail are alright. Then, the apprentices den. I'll go into the warriors den and the nursery, alright?"

Miraclepool nodded and dashed off. Leafstar uttered one desperate prayer to StarClan and did the same.

-------

Miraclepool dodged the flames as she dashed towards the medicine cat's den. "They'll be okay," she told herself. "They have to be okay." Thankfully, the opening to the den hadn't been engulfed, so she ran in. "Silverleaf!" she yowled. "Stormtail!"

"We're alright!" Silverleaf's raspy mew came. He was standing above Gentlepaw, whom had developed greencough.

"We're trying to move her," Stormtail explained.

She nodded. "Alright, I'll help you." Together, the three of them gently picked up the ginger apprentice and turned towards the den. But what awaited them was grave. The deputy almost wailed like a kit when she saw the flames had spread to the den. There was no way out. The fire quickly caught onto some of the dried leaves and berries that were left near the entrance and spread around the three cats.

She heard an unearthly screech as the flame consumed her Clan mates. She turned around, hoping that she could save them, but felt a searing pain on her leg, which soon spread across her back. She was on fire!

Soon, the she-cat dropped to the ground, the light dying from her eyes as her soul moved onto StarClan.

"Welcome, my love," a white cat with a single dark paw purred as Miraclepool looked around at the beautiful clearing she was in.

"Darkstep! What are you doing here?! More importantly, what am _I _doing here?!"

Darkstep sighed and sat down. "You're in StarClan, Miraclepool. You are dead."

The tortoiseshell started trembling. "What? I can't be dead! I have to go back! I _must _help my Clan!"

"There's no need," he replied gently. "Your Clan is with you here. No lives could be saved."

"Even Crystalheart and Echostorm?"

He shook his head. "Crystalheart is dead as well, but Echostorm is very much alive. But, he is apart of something bigger. A prophecy to be exact." He must of seen the questioning look in her eyes, because he added, "All will be explained in time."

Miraclepool took in a shaky sigh. "Very well. I-Is Leafstar dead as well."

"Yes. The fire would not let up, so she could not heal when she awoke from losing a life."

The she-cat finally broke down. She was dead. Leafstar was dead. Silverleaf. Stormtail. Gingerpaw. Everyone.

TreeClan was no more.

**There you have it. The destruction of TreeClan. I'm actually happy with how Darkstep sounded the very few lines he was in. He's not really a developed character, so I'm glad I managed to make him seem like a pretty good cat.**

**~AliKatNyah**


	14. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer - I don't own warriors. If I did, Crowfeather would be killed for what he did to Breezepaw. **

"It's a kittypet!" Gingerpaw hissed, the fur on her back rising up.

The she-cat sniffed disdainfully. "I'm no kittypet; I'm just a traveller."

Before the ginger apprentice could say anything else, Echostorm stepped in. "What do you want?" he growled.

The she-cat nodded towards him and replied, "I don't mean any harm this time, I just noticed you all over here and I knew that you were a of the forest...or what's left of the forest." She turned towards where a dark cloud of smoke was rising up from where TreeClan territory used to be. "Are you what's left?"

"What's it to you?!" Amberpaw spat. "We don't need to tell you anything!"

"Well sorry for being concerned!" Cassie snarled.

The tabby hissed as Mistpelt stepped between the two. "Easy now," she sighed. "We don't mean any trouble, Cassie. We're just a little overwhelmed right now."

"What happened?" Cassie asked, the fire still in her eyes.

"It's a long story, Cassie." Echostorm muttered.

She calmed down the moment Echostorm spoke. "Well, we have time."

"We don't have to tell you anything!" Speckledpaw growled. "Besides, how does he know your name?!"

"We've met before," Echostorm quickly explained. "I caught her in TreeClan territory while hunting." Echostorm looked around at the cats, hoping that they didn't ask any more questions.

She nodded. "Although TreeClan doesn't exist."

"Doesn't exist?" Amberpaw repeated. "Of course it exists! I'm a part of it!"

"Whatever."

Echostorm sighed._ Why is she so convinced that Clans don't exist? Has she even heard of StarClan? _

"Just ignore her," Crookedtail meowed. "We have to leave, anyway?"

At this, Cassie perked her ears. "Oh? Where are you going?"

Rainkit, who had just woke up, took this opportunity to talk. "StarClan told us to find a new home and start a new Clan!"

Echostorm bit back the want to snap at the kit. Just like that, their journey revealed to a kittypet! "It doesn't concern you though, so you can move along," he meowed hurriedly.

Cassie ignored her and looked at the gray kit. "StarClan? I have no idea who that is, but I am interested in the fact of you all starting one of these make-believe Clans."

"They're not make-believe!" Speckledpaw spat. "We are Clan cats! We have Clan names! We are apart of _Clans!_ Just because you've never seen one doesn't mean they're not real!"

Birdpaw nodded. "Why do you think we have such different names from you?"

She shrugged. "I just assumed your mothers hit their heads before they named you."

Firestorm sighed. "No, our mothers had similar names to us. For instance, a kit has 'kit' in their names. That's why my kits are called Rainkit and Sunkit. Apprentice's have 'paw' in theirs, hence Birdpaw, Amberpaw, Tallpaw, Speckledpaw, and Blackpaw. Warriors and medicine cats and keep the original suffixes, and their names end with something that describes them. Like Firestorm, Crookedtail, Echostorm, Mistpelt, and Forestgaze. Leaders always have 'star' at the end of their name."

"Now that we've told her everything, why don't we just invite her to tag along?!" Amberpaw mewed sarcastically, while Blackpaw voiced his agreement.

"It would actually be fun to come along," Cassie replied, either ignoring or not hearing the sarcasm in Amberpaw's voice.

Echostorm opened his mouth to reject the idea of the loner coming along, but then closed it. _She knows the Twolegplace better than us, so she can help us through if needed. Maybe she will be useful. _"Do you know where the closest place that hasn't been invaded by Twolegs is?" he blurted out. The moment he did, he looked away to avoid harsh glares from Blackpaw, Speckledpaw, and Amberpaw.

The she-cat scuffled her white paws before saying, "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. But, the quickest way is through the heart of the town- uh, Twolegplace as you say. There's also some pretty nasty cats."

"We could take 'em!" Sunkit yowled as his mother scolded him.

Crookedtail looked from Cassie, to Forestgaze, then to the other cats. "I'd say it's the choice of the cats who were chosen to go on this journey in the first place."

"Well, I'd say that we should chase her off!" Speckledpaw hissed. "We don't need her! She'd just be a burden."

"For once, I agree," Amberpaw chipped in.

Gingerpaw inspected Cassie. "Does she even know how to fight?"

Echostorm felt a flash of panic. The others were going to say no to his idea; he was sure of it. Looking towards the other two MeadowClan cats, his yellow eyes glittered as he asked, "Well? What do you two think?"

Birdpaw's sightless eyes glowed in the dark. "I think that you're right. She'll be useful."

Tallpaw nodded. "I don't like outsiders as much as the next person, but we know nothing about the Twolegplace or what's beyond it."

"She'll be a burden!" Amberpaw protested. "She probably doesn't know how to fight!"

Cassie's tail flicked back and forth. "Would you like to test that?"

"Enough!" Echostorm turned to see Forestgaze was the one who spat out the command. "She's coming with us, and that's final. No fighting or arguing is needed. I agree with Echostorm; we need a guide through the Twolegplace." Giving a stern gaze to Gingerpaw, who was about to argue, she added, "If you can be friends with a cat with a paw in two Clans, why not a loner?"

Echostorm looked over at Minnowpaw, who was looking at the ground. _That's right, _he thought. _She's a halfClan. _

Gingerpaw looked from her friend to Cassie, and then sighed, giving up. "Fine, but if she does one thing that gets us in trouble, she's outta here."

"Good enough for me," Cassie replied, standing up. "When are we leaving?"

"Now," Echostorm meowed, looking around at the other cats, who nodded.

"Great. I'll lead the way." With that, she bounded off and jumped onto the log.

Echostorm sighed as he watched her dash off without looking back at them. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to let her come along with them.

**A/N - MY MOM PRE-ORDERED ME LONG SHADOWS!!! :D:D:D:D:D YEAH!!! **

**Ahem. **

**Anyways, I read this transcript and I found out what Jaypaw's official name was. I'll tell you if you want, just tell me in the review if you want to know it if you already don't. If you do, wasn't it predictable? Jeez Leafpool...Jeez...**

**Oh, and for those of you who read the other version of this chapter, I'm REALLY sorry about how jacked up it was. I was trying a different format, but, it didn't work out. Here's the neater one.**


	15. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer - I don't own Warriors.**

"Are we there yet?" Amberpaw heard Rainkit mew to her mother.

"Not yet," the queen mewed gently.

"We won't be there for quite a while," Cassie butted in. "This is only the outskirts of the city."

"Stop speaking like the Twolegs!" Amberpaw hissed.

"Fine, fine. Twolegplace, or whatever."

The dark tabby snorted. _She should speak like us if she's going to live like us, _she thought. _Great StarClan, why did Echostorm want her to come?! _

"Because Echostorm is a fool," a snarl came from her left. Whirling around, she saw Tigerstar.

"Tigerstar!" she gasped quietly, so the others couldn't hear. "What are you doing? You said to only meet in my dreams."

"I know what I said!" he snapped. "Now listen to me."

She nodded, angling her ears towards the huge cat as if trying to block out the complaining kits.

"Once you get out of the blasted Twolegplace, there is something important you need to do," he explained. "Minnowpaw and Cassie; they will dirty the blood of your otherwise pure Clan. After you are settled into your new territory, dispose of them immediately."

"Dispose..?" she echoed. "You mean kill?"

"What else could I mean?!" Tigerstar hissed.

Amberpaw drew her ears back, but muttered an apology.

"Now, while you're here- The tom was cut off as he suddenly dissapeared. Amberpaw looked around wildly, calling his name out a few times, but she could not find the tabby leader.

Looking at her friends, she realized something was wrong. The kits had fallen silent and were hiding behind her mother while the the others had their hackles raised and claws unsheathed.

"You!" Cassie hissed.

That's when Amberpaw saw them. There was about a Clan full amount of cats, all skinny and ferocious looking. Leading the group was a dark ginger tom.

"Well hello Cassie," he growled. "Long time no see, eh? You've made some friends by the looks of things."

"Copper," the she-cat spat out the name. "Move along. We're not here to fight."

"It looks like you are," Copper sneered.

"Everyone, put your claws away."

"Don't order us around!" Amberpaw snapped. "If these cats want a fight, then they've got one!"

-------

A large tom walked through the dark, starless, cold forest he had been wandering for seasons. Usually, he would walk or watch cats that were still alive when he was bored. But this moment was different. He was walking with a purpose. One of the cats here; a cat that he had been affiliated with even when he was alive, was ahead of them.

He stopped when he felt piercing blue eyes upon him. "We're almost here," the tabby in front of him snarled. "I don't see why he needed _you _though."

The tom ignored the look of hostility his partner was giving him and walked into a large clearing. In the center of it was a cat with a similar pelt. He pricked his ears and turned towards.

"Good," he growled. "You came."

The tabby nodded. "Yes, Tigerstar. But if I may ask, what occasion is so important that you sent Hawkfrost looking for me?"

"You remember Amberpaw, correct?"

_His new experiment, _he mused. "Yes. The she-cat apprentice that you chose for the journey."

It was a few minutes before Tigerstar spoke again. "Yes. I've been watching her lately. She's becoming soft."

"Like a certain cat," Hawkfrost spat.

"Me? Soft?" The tom's eyes glittered. "Do you remember what I did?"

"You would have never attacked him if it wasn't for us!"

He unsheathed his claws and let out a snarl. "At least I got farther than you."

"Stop you two!" Tigerstar hissed. "Bramblestar, I need you to travel the remainder of the journey at Amberpaw's side. Teach her; fight with her; influence her."

Bramblestar nodded. "I understand, but won't StarClan object?"

"StarClan?" he echoed. "Brokenstar and his lot are taking care of them. Now go!"

-------

Amberpaw didn't know which side attacked first; all she knew that moments after she spoke, the cats were locked in battle. As she dove in and out of the cats, occasionally fighting with one. Looking around for her friends, the sight she found made her eyes wide. They were heavily outnumbered. They would lose_. No_! she thought _despairingly We can't lose! We have to get through this_!

Suddenly, a gray tom barreled into her, clawing her muzzle in the process. Letting out a screech, she tried to regain her balance and counter his attacks, but it was no use. The tom was twice her size. As he pinned her down and reached for her neck, she let out a yowl: "Help me!"

As if to answer her cry, the cat's side suddenly turned red with blood. He let out a hiss of pain before more claw marks appeared on his head. Amberpaw watched as the creature tried to fight his invisible enemy, but with no avail. After a few more moments, his throat was ripped open and he dropped to the ground dead.

"Get up, you runt," a voice growled. Looking around, she saw a dark tabby appear.

"Tigers- she cut herself off and got a better look at the cat. It wasn't Tigerstar. "Who are you?"

"My name is of no importance right now. No get up off your back and_ fight!" _

Doing as he said, she looked around. Her friends were still in the same position they were in a few moments ago. "How will we win? There's at least a Clan full of them!"

"Follow my lead," the tom ordered and dashed into the fray. Amberpaw hesitated, but eventually followed after.

Soon she was locked in battle again, but this time with an easier opponent. Eventually, she had the white she-cat pinned down.

"Finish her off!" the tabby's yell came from a short distance away.

"But that's against the warrior code!"

"Can you say that if you're not in a Clan?"

The tom made sense, but this would be the first life Amberpaw would have ever taken. Gulping, she looked down at the she-cat. Her green eyes met Amberpaw's and all the apprentice saw was helplessness_. I can't do it_!

"You worthless pile of fox-dung!" the tabby shoved her aside. "It's just a rouge!" He then killed the she-cat just like he had the gray tom.

Amberpaw watched in horror as the light died from the cat's eyes. Her cry for help had been answered by a fox-hearted killer.

-------

A dark ginger she-cat sat alone at a small pool, watching the battle below. Her once firey green eyes were dull with sadness as she focused on Bramblestar. She had seen him take the rouges' lives. _Is this really him? What went wrong? _

"Squirrelflight," she whirled around to see a tabby with white paws and chest and amber eyes. Her hackles raised and she was about to run at the cat when she realized it was only her sister, Leafpool.

"What is it?" Squirrelflight muttered, returning her focus back to the pool.

Leafpool walked up beside her and peered into the water. When she saw the scene Squirrelflight had been watching, she mewed, "Squirrelflight, I don't think it's best if you watch this."

"Why not?!" she hissed. "He's my mate! I have a right too?"

"Do you still love him?" her sister whispered. When Leafpool was greeted with silence, she continued. "How can you? Don't you remember all that he did? He killed innocent cats, including our father!"

"I know," she sobbed. "I can't help but love him though!"

She felt's Leafpool's tail touch her shoulder. "Trust me, I know more than you think."

The two stood there for silence for a bit longer. Suddenly, Squirrelflight heard a yowl. It was a battle cry. She looked down at the pool to see that the battle had dissapeared. "Did you hear that?" she asked Leafpool, who nodded.

"It sounded like Feathertail," the medicine cat replied quickly. "Let's go."

With that, they bounded off. The farther they went into the starlit forest, the louder the yowls became, soon sounding like many cats. Soon, they came to terrain that looked similar to WindClan's ancient territory. There, StarClan were fighting other cats.

"Look!" Leafpool's meow was alarmed. "I see Sol! And Crowfeather!"

"What are they doing here? Isn't the Place of No Stars enough?" Before her kin could reply, Squirrelflight jumped into the fray.

"Go back from where you came Brokenstar!" she turned to see Bluestar fighting with a long-haired tabby.

"After this is over, this will be where we stay," Brokenstar hissed.

_But they can't kill us! _Squirrelflight thought. _And we can't kill them. _

Suddenly, a dark gray cat with black tabby stripes slammed into her, knocking the breath out of the she-cat. Scrabbling to her paws, she hissed at her opponent. She rolled over to dodge his claws, exposing her belly. He pounced her, but before the tom could do anything, she clawed his stomach, ripping it open and causing the ground around her to turn scarlet. He let out a snarl, but dashed off. Squirrelflight knew all too well that wounds cats recieved up here would heal perfectly, and sooner than she would like, the cat would be back.

"That's it!" she turned to see Feathertail bat away Sol. "We're winning!"

"Keep it up!" A tortoiseshell tom with a bushy red tail yowled.

Soon, the shadowy cats had quickly retreated back into the Place of No Stars. "It's over," Squirrelflight panted.

"That it is," Sandstorm walked up to her and meowed.

"But for how long?" Mousefur hissed.

"They will be back," a ginger tom with white paws growled.

"Stay calm, Thunderstar," Firestar met Thunderstar's gaze. "Right now I think we should find a way to keep them out of StarClan hunting grounds."

"Should we organize border patrols?" Feathertail suggested.

"Or set up guards around key areas." her mother, Silverstream, suggested.

A gray she-cat rumbled over to the group of cats. "Whatever we do, we need to keep them off until a least the cats get to their new home."

"And why is that, Yellowfang?" Squirrelflight's son, Jayfeather, asked.

"If they win before that, then they decide who the leader of the new Clan is. And possibly the fate of those cats."

**A/N: Well, I hope you liked it! I tried to give some much loved cats a chance in the lime-light, so tell me how you liked it! Oh, and I bet you can't guess which cat Squirrelflight was fighting. **

**Oh, and I'm on Thanksgiving break!**

~AliKatNyah


	16. Chapter 13

**Sorry I've been gone! I'm REALLY sorry! I was grounded. Anyways, I would like to make some changes.**

**Please, in the one chapter they are mentioned, changed the names to Lionblaze and Hollyleaf. **

**Wow, I feel really unprofessional now. **

**Disclaimer – I don't own Warriors. If I did, Ashfur wouldn't be dead.**

Amberpaw barely noticed the other cats that had surrounded Birdpaw. She had received a wound on her back, but seemed to be alright. What all the tabby's senses were focused on was Bramblestar. Apparently the tabby leader was Tigerstar's other son. The strong tom had brutally taken down two of the rouges in the battle and was now staring at her with cold amber eyes.

"What are you doing?" he snarled when their eyes met.

Amberpaw's fur bristled; not of anger, but of slight fear. "Nothing," she hastily replied before looking away.

He snorted and looked over at Birdpaw. "Bluestar was foolish to choose her." He muttered. "A blind cat on such a journey? It's completely mouse-brained!"

"You allowed me to go on the journey to the mountains," a voice countered. "And yet, you didn't think it was mouse-brained at all."

Amberpaw swung around to see a gray tom with jay-feather colored eyes.

"Jayfeather," Bramblestar snarled. "Must you always be the one to interfere?"

Jayfeather took a step towards the tom. "StarClan has had enough of you. Go back to where you belong."

"Leave?" he growled. 'I would think that the _all powerful StarClan _would thank me for saving one of the chosen."

"You did nothing but take lives!"

The apprentice instinctively unsheathed her claws as Jayfeather's fur began to bristle. A fight was almost inevitable. Looking over at her friends, she realized that she wasn't the only one who was seeing the scene.

After what felt like moons, Bramblestar hissed, "Very well. I will leave. But don't think you or any other cat in StarClan have seen the last of me!"

When the tabby had faded away, Jayfeather relaxed. "About time," he muttered. Turning towards Amberpaw, he hissed, "What?! Do I look like a badger to you?"

"No," she weakly replied. _Great StarClan! This cat switches moods pretty quickly!_

"I do not switch moods that fast."

"How did you know I was thinking that?!"

He shrugged.

"That's not an answer, fox-dung!" the apprentice spat.

Suddenly, Forestgaze yowled, "Treat your ancestors with respect!"

Jayfeather turned to look at the she-cat. "So here's the medicine cat of this 'Clan'."

Forestgaze nodded. "Are you Jayfeather of ThunderClan?"

"No, I'm Tallpoppy of ShadowClan," he replied sarcastically, which received a few snorts of laughter. Forestgaze remained quiet, but her tail twitched with annoyance.

"Wait," Cassie spoke up. "So you're a ghost?"

"A what? I'm a StarClan cat."

"But they don't exist!"

"Then what do you think I am. Do you think that I'm a badger like that…_intelligent _cat behind me?"

Amberpaw let out a snarl. "At least I'll be stronger than you when I'm older."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, what an accomplishment!"

"I hate to interrupt," Speckledpaw meowed drily, "but Birdpaw is on her paws again."

Every head spun around to see the small blue-tinged she-cat blinking her sightless eyes.

"Good, I don't have to take anyone to StarClan," Jayfeather murmered.

"How are you feeling?" Tallpaw asked as he rushed up to her side.

Birdpaw twitched her ears. "I'm fine, but I don't know what the fuss is all about."

Amberpaw snorted. "StarClan just made a bad decision on who to send us, that's all."

"Jayfeather of ThunderClan has come to…" Echostorm trailed off and looked expectantly at the other tom.

"To help you on the remainder of the journey," he finished. "StarClan wanted a medicine cat to go, but Leafpool was too 'busy', Willowshine was gossiping, Bark-

"Excuse me, but I don't think that any of us want to hear you rant," Gingerpaw interrupted.

"Deal with it."

Before the ginger apprentice could reply, Sunkit and Rainkit bounded up.

"So you live in StarClan?" Rainkit asked.

Jayfeather nodded.

"Is it fun up there?"

He sighed. "Not at the moment, but that's another story."

"Do you know all the cats up there?"

"No, but I've spoken with quite a few."

Sunkit shoved his sister aside. "How did you die?"

"That's enough, kits!" Firestorm had padded up. To Jayfeather, she added, "I apologize."

"Kits will be kits." He stood up. "Come, it's going to storm soon. Let's cover as much ground as possible!"

Echostorm watched Jayfeather as they trekked through the Twolegplace. Ever since the StarClan cat had appeared, the warrior had been thinking about one thing; did he know about his family, especially Crystalheart?

"What's the problem, Echostorm?" Jayfeather asked.

Echostorm, slightly startled, blurted out, "Do you know Crystalheart? My sister?"

He stopped. "Do I know her? I was there when she took her first step into StarClan territory."

"Really? How was she?"

"She was a little distraught, but more importantly, she was looking for you."

The tom's tail drooped as Mistpelt came closer to his side.

Jayfeather turned and gave him an icy stare. "That must feel terrible. To find out that you kin left you to die."

Mistpelt hissed. "Leave him alone! It was his choice!"

"But to choose a cat that could leave you at any moment over those who would be forever bonded with you?"

Echostorm bowed his head, unable to answer. He felt guilty that he had left his sister. _I didn't betray her, though, _he told himself. _She's probably happier in StarClan, anyway. _

"In my opinion," the gray cat continued, "turning your back on you kin is the worst betrayal, and that's that." He padded up to the front of the group. "Alright, we need to find a place that we can sleep."

"When will we be out of the Twolegplace?" Minnowpaw, who was carefully watching Birdpaw, asked.

Jayfeather shrugged. "I'm not kittypet." He pointedly looked at Cassie.

The black she-cat looked around, her eyes shining as she looked around the now dark Twolegplace. "Two days at the least."

Tallpaw sighed. "Wonderful."

"Stop complaining!" Gingerpaw growled. "It's better than staying in the forest and dying!"

"But what if we die anyways?" he countered.

This was met by silence.

"Uh, there's a dumpster over there," Cassie mewed. "It's sheltered."

Mistpelt put her ears back. "It stinks!"

"It's better than nothing." Amberpaw shoved the silver she-cat aside and crawled under the metal object. "And there's enough room."

Blackpaw followed her before quickly coming out. "She's right! It should fit all of us."

Echostorm watched along with Jayfeather as the others went under the dumpster. He soon felt the medicine cat's eyes on him. "I need to talk to you privately," he mewed flatly.

Echostorm slowly nodded and followed the other tom out to the elevated ground beside the Thunderpath. "What is it?"

Jayfeather sat down before replying, "I was once part of a prophecy as well."

He perked his ears. "Really?"

"Yes. _There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws. _It was meant for Firestar's ears, but I soon found out."

"Did it come true? You know, before you died."

"Of course!" Jayfeather snapped. In a softer tone, he added, "It was when we – my brother Lionblaze, my sister Hollyleaf, and I – were a lot older than you. We were the most powerful cats in the forest."

Echostorm leaned towards him, as if he couldn't hear the tom's words. "What did you all do with your power?"

Suddenly becoming defensive, Jayfeather growled, "Nothing that concerns you. But you must realize, with great power come great responsibility. You must always make the right choices."

"But I know that!" he protested.

"I beg to differ. You made the worst choice before you even left the forest."

Echostorm hissed with frustration. When would the tom stop mentioning that? "Just because I didn't choose my sister to come along doesn't mean there will be trouble!"

Jayfeather stood up and stepped towards him until their noses were almost touching. "Oh, it will cause trouble. Because of that very choice, there will be blood-shed. Cats you hold close to your heart will die and it will be _your entire fault._"


	17. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer – I don't own Warriors. **

As soon as her sore paws hit the soft, cool grass, Gingerpaw yowled with excitement. "We made it! We're here!"

"Quiet!" Jayfeather hissed. "You don't know what's inside this forest."

"Hopefully somewhere to live," Cassie snorted.

Echostorm stepped forward. "No, he's right. We need to be careful. There's always a risk of rogues like the ones we ran into on the way here."

Crookedtail nodded. "Stay quiet."

The ginger she-cat rolled her eyes, but nodded. She allowed the two warriors to step in front of her as they scented the air for cats –or anything else that could harm them, for that matter. Eventually, they were in what seemed to be like the heart of the forest.

"This place seems so different from home," Minnowpaw whispered.

Gingerpaw agreed with the gray she-cat. She had never been in a forest before, so she wasn't exactly comfortable in their new territory.

"This is mouse-brained!" Tallpaw hissed. "Only TreeClan cats will be able to successfully live here."

"Stay calm, young one," Jayfeather threw over his shoulder. "All of you will be comfortable in your new home eventually."

Suddenly, there was the sound of a twig snapping and the sudden scent of cat rushed over Gingerpaw. Padding up to Minnowpaw's side, she hissed, "Do you smell that?!"

Before her friend could answer, three cats appeared out of the bracken. One was a large spotted tortoiseshell tom, with what looked like a white apprentice at his side. The third cat was a slender, solid brown she-cat.

"What are you doing here, trespassers?!" the tom hissed.

Echostorm stepped forward and bowed his head. "We mean no threat to you. We are simply looking for a home."

"I believe you're in the wrong place," the she-cat curtly replied. "This is LeafClan's territory."

Jayfeather shook his gray head. "No, you're wrong. This is the right place."

"How would you know?" the apprentice asked.

The she-cat's eyes trailed over towards Jayfeather and the fur on her spine bristled. "You're of StarClan?"

"Yes I am. I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you yet. I am Jayfeather."

She nodded. "I am Elmstar, leader of LeafClan. This is Spottedclaw and my apprentice Frostpaw." Elmstar pointed to each cat in turn. "What about you all? Which Clans do you come from?"

"We all come from different Clans," Echostorm explained. "I am Echostorm from TreeClan. Mistpelt, Blackpaw Amberpaw are my Clan mates." The three nodded. "Tallpaw, Birdpaw, Speckledpaw, Crookedtail, Forestgaze, and Firestorm and her kits Sunkit and Rainkit are all from MeadowClan. Minnowpaw and Gingerpaw are from LakeClan. Oh, and Cassie is a loner who guided us through the Twolegplace."

Gingerpaw puffed out her chest as her name was said. She wanted to prove herself worthy to these cats. They were to become her Clan mates or her enemies, after all.

"And I'm assuming that StarClan sent you?" Elmstar prompted.

This time, Forestgaze answered. "Yes. Our Clans are gone or being destroyed as we speak."

"TreeClan is already gone," Blackpaw whispered.

Spottedclaw snorted. "So you expect us to take you in?"

"Not on your life!" Amberpaw snarled and stepped forward. The two locked eyes and stared at each other for what seemed like moons. Finally, Spottedclaw muttered something under his breath and looked away, while Amberpaw growled triumphantly.

"Take it easy, Amberpaw," Echostorm murmured.

"Come," Elmstar turned around and gestured the group with her tail. "You all seem tired. You may come to LeafClan camp to get something to eat and so we can sort this out."

Gingerpaw sighed as she stood up and followed the three. She was glad that they hadn't been attacked, but she couldn't help but feel like something was about to go horribly wrong.

Echostorm couldn't help but fluff up his tail as he took in the stares of contempt he and his friends were getting from the LeafClan warriors. He was for sure of one thing now; they weren't welcome even with Elmstar's permission.

"Who are they?" a small dusky brown tom asked.

Frostpaw, who had walked over to him, muttered, "Outsiders from different Clans and their loner guide."

A pure black tom quickly came over to Elmstar. "Elmstar," he growled. "What is the meaning of this?! Who are these cats?"

"Calm down, Nightfang." Elmstar replied in a soothing voice. "These cats were sent here by StarClan to build their own Clan."

Nightfang, nodded, but Echostorm tensed as he gave him a scathing glare.

"This is Nightfang, my deputy." Elmstar addressed to the group. "He will be with us as we sort this out. But for now, go get something to eat. Get some of your strength back."

The black-pawed tom kept his head low as he passed cats to get to the fresh-kill pile. One scraggly tom hissed in his ear as he walked by: "Enjoy the food _we_ caught."

"I don't like this one bit," Mistpelt whispered as they were sharing a thrush. "We need to talk to Elmstar and then get out of here."

He nodded. "I know."

Soon after everyone was finished, a small black and white she-cat approached them. "I am Blackspots, the medicine cat. Elmstar has told me to come retrieve you all."

Echostorm stood up. "Very well. Let's go."

The medicine cat led them to an old fox den. Inside, there was Elmstar and Nightfang. The deputy still had a hostile look in his yellow eyes when Echostorm nodded towards him. _What's his problem? _The tom wondered.

"Alright," Elmstar broke the silence. "You are going to be your own Clan, correct?"

Echostorm took this chance to be the speaker. "Yes. Is there any territory that isn't LeafClan's?"

"No, there isn't. The whole forest is ours."

He remained calm, but cursed their luck inside his mind. "I see."

"We could give them a bit of territory surrounding that clearing," Blackspots suggested.

Nightfang growled. "I say we chase them out here and now."

"We cannot do that, Nightfang," Elmstar said in her soft voice. "It is not the will of StarClan."

"Then are we going to just give up prey-rich territory because dead cats tell us to?"

Jayfeather hissed. "I may be dead, but I can tear your fur off anytime!"

Echostorm sighed. _Well there goes our peacemaker. _

"If you give us that land, we will be in your debt for at least a moon," Forestgaze offered. "We could share a portion of our prey or-

"No," Elmstar interrupted. To Echostorm's surprise, she was staring at the two kits. "I have a better offer. If you haven't noticed, LeafClan has no kits. We only have two apprentices and they are on the verge of becoming warriors."

"What's your point?" Amberpaw hissed.

Suddenly, the leader seemed like less of a friend. "We will give you a portion of our territory on one condition. You give us the kits."

**A/N – I don't have much to say. Only one thing.**

I have to admit that Amaranth by Nightwish is inspiring me lately. 


	18. Chapter 15

"I'll never let you have my kits!" Firestorm cried.

Nightfang smirked. "Then I suppose I will have to dispose of them."

Amberpaw glared at the black tom, her fur hot with anger. "What would you benifit from killing two kits?!"

"You and the other apprentices are also on the verge of becoming warriors," Elmstar replied. "That way, neither Clan will have apprentices."

Amberpaw snarled at the tom and she-cat. Just like that, they had turned from as close to friends as they could be to enemies. Looking towards Echostorm and Blackpaw, she hissed, "We have to get out of here!"

Echostorm nodded and turned back to the LeafClan cats. "There will be no bloodshed today." To the others, he added: "Come!"

Amberpaw turned and dashed out of the den, only to be stopped by a Clan full of warriors. _They planned this! _she thought angrily.

"We'll never win!" Minnowpaw gasped.

Jayfeather looked around, studying the size and hostility of the cats. "We'll have to try."

-------

"We have to help them!" Firestar looked at the cats surrounding him. "We can't expect them to fight with these odds. Even with Jayfeather."

"We have to protect our borders as well, Firestar," Sandstorm mewed gently. "We need all the cats here."

"So you're willing to watch these cats die?"

"Stay calm, Firestar," Tallstar rasped. "These cats will find a way."

"Not without them getting killed," the ginger tom growled.

"So what do you say we do?" Dustpelt challenged.

"We should send cats to help them. Preferrably the ones who chose them to go in the first place."

"Some of those cats are needed here, Firestar," Bluestar protested. "Including you."

He spun around to face his former mentor. "Don't you think I realize that? But we can't die in this battle. They can! How could you choose yourselves over the ones that we ordered to leave in the first place?" He stepped towards the pool that they had surrounded. "I'm going."

"You can't go by yourself!" Sandstorm stepped forward. "That's completely mouse-brained!"

Firestar looked around. "Very well. Does anyone wish to go with me?"

His hackles began to rise when he was met by silence. Suddenly, a gray tom with a darker stripe down his spine walked up to him. "You never have been wrong before," he meowed. "I will go."

The tom nodded. "Thank you, Graystripe."

"Don't forget about us!" Cloudtail bounded up. Beside him was his lifelong mate, Brightheart.

"I will go as well," Angerstrike stalked forward. "My kit is at stake."

Firestar looked around, his green eyes glittering. "Thank you four." Turning back towards his mate, he asked, "Sandstorm?"

The light ginger she-cat looked away. "No, Firestar."

"I see," he said, his voice full of dissapointed. "Now I know where your priorites are."

"No, Firestar! I- But it was too late. Firestar and the others had dissapeared.

-------

"Tigerstar! Bramblestar! Help!" Amberpaw shrieked as the battle exploded. They were heavily outnumbered. _This is it! _she thought. _I'm going to die! _

Suddenly, two tabbies appeared on both of her sides. She wasn't surprised when one was Bramblestar, but when she looked at the other, she gasped.

"Father!"

Angerstrike nodded as he batted a small mottled brown tom away. "Hello, Amberpaw. I wish I could greet you on better circumstances."

Bramblestar, on the other hand, hissed. "StarClan is here as well?!"

For a split second, the two's eyes met. "Yes, StarClan is here," Angerstrike snarled. "And it's a good thing, too."

-------

Gingerpaw let out a screech as the white apprentice from before went to snap at her neck. She desperately clawed her underbelly, but with no avail. Suddenly, a flash a flame-colored fur barreled into the she-cat. Gingerpaw scrabbled to her paws to see her rescuer.

"Firestar! It's you!"

Firestar nodded. "That it is, young one. Are you alright?"

"I will be." She looked around. "What about Firestorm and her kits? Are they safe?"

"Brightheart is tending to them."

-------

Tallpaw snarled as he took down the brown apprentice. _How are we expected to win against these odds?! _he thought angrily. Quickly giving the tom a sharp nip, he let him run off and looked around. He let out a hiss when he saw a gray tom approaching Birdpaw. "Birdpaw, watch out!" he cried as he barreled into the cat.

"Woah woah woah!" the tom yowled. "Hey! I'm on your side! I have stars in my fur. See?" Sure enough, his pelt was shining with the stars of Silverpelt.

"Sorry," Tallpaw muttered.

He nodded. "I understand. I'm Graystripe, by the way. Warrior of ThunderClan- er, StarClan now, I suppose."

-------

"Elmstar!" she pricked her ears as her medicine cat came towards her. "Elmstar, we must stop fighting."

"And why is that, Blackspots?"

"Look!" the she-cat pointed towards the kits that had cause the fight. Beside them and their mother were two cats with shining pelts. "They have the cats of StarClan on their side!"

"What?" she exclaimed. "How is that possible? StarClan doesn't choose sides."

"Unless it's not their will. We have to stop!"

Elmstar hissed angrily, but agreed. Climbing up onto a tree branch, she screeched, "Cats of LeafClan! Stop! This isn't the will of StarClan!"

"What do you mean?!" Nightfang countered.

"Look."

The black tom turned around to see a ginger tom with stars in his fur. He let out a hiss, but sheathed his claws.

The flame-colored tom nodded. "Leafstar, this battle isn't neccesary."

"We need these kits."

"They're ours!" The she-cat known as Amberpaw growled. The tabby beside her whispered something in her ear and she grew quiet.

"Surely we can come to some agreement," the tom from before meowed.

Elmstar paused, deep in thought, before saying, "Very well. We will only request one of the kits."

"Never!" Firestorm caterwauled. The ginger and white warrior beside her said something, and Firestorm's glare rested on her.

"Is there no way I can convince you to leave the kits out of this?" the ginger cat ventured.

Elmstar stood up taller before replying, "Warrior of StarClan, my respect for you is endless, but I must put my Clan first. Without one of these kits, our apprentices will become warriors and we will have no young cats for moons to come."

His green eyes dulled for a moment. Suddenly, he turned towards Firestorm. "Firestorm, you must understand. This is for the best."

"You can't honestly expect me to choose between my kits!" her voice was growing desperate.

The she-cat beside her mewed, "Firestorm, we understand your pain, but think about it. No harm will be brought to that kit, and you'll see either one at Gatherings."

"No!"

Elmstar sighed. This was much more complicated than it needed to be. She met the ginger tom's eyes and if some form of agreement was met, she nodded towards Nightfang, who went to pick up Rainkit.

"Rainkit!" Firestorm dashed towards the deupty, but was blocked by the white StarClan tom and one of Elmstar's warriors, Brindlefur. "You can't take her!"

"I'm sorry," Brindlefur whispered.

"Cloudtail," the tom meowed, "you and Brightheart lead Firestorm towards the entrance. We're leaving."

"Wait," Elmstar yowled. "You cats may have the clearing deeper in the forest. Redwhisker will show you the way." At that, a dark ginger tom stood up.

Firestorm walked away willingly, but when she and Sunkit reached the entrance, she turned around a glared at Elmstar. "I will never forget this," she bared her teeth at the leader. "I will hate you for the rest of my life."


	19. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer – I don't own Warriors. If I did, Blackstar would be ruler of all.**

"Is this it?" Amberpaw asked as her amber eyes scanned the clearing.

"Looks like it," Cassie replied.

The tabby noticed Blackpaw wander farther into their new camp. Bounding up to him, she whispered, "What do you think?"

The tom nodded. "It should be a good place. Look. There's an opening in that huge rock on the edge of the camp. That could be the warriors den. And then that old badger set could be the apprentices den and then-

"Badger set?!" Amberpaw interrupted her friend. "I'm not sleeping in that!"

Her anger flared as Blackpaw purred with amusement. "What are you laughing at?"

"Amberpaw, you'll only have to sleep in there for two days at the most. We're old enough to be warriors now."

"Hmph," the she-cat pouted and continued looking around. Her eyes trailed over to where Bramblestar and Firestar were staring each other down as the other cats watched nervously. Signaling Blackpaw, she whispered, "Come on. Let's see what's going on," and padded up to the group.

"You filthy StarClan cats can leave now," Bramblestar growled. "You've done your part."

Firestar took a step forward the large tabby. "We're not leaving until you leave," he calmly replied, although his fur was fluffed out.

"Shouldn't you go and help your friends?" he sneered. "After all, I hear that there's a war going on between the sides that you and I are on."

"StarClan's at war?" Forestgaze echoed, her voice shaking.

"Yes," Firestar simply meowed as he kept his glittering green eyes on Bramblestar. "Leave," he added to the tabby.

"You've no right to order me around, Firestar," he snarled. "You aren't my mentor or my leader anymore. You haven't been for seasons."

"And whose fault is that?"

"That's enough," Brightheart stepped in between the toms. "I understand that we are enemies, but we must cope long enough to insure these cats have built a sturdy Clan." Looking towards Bramblestar, she said, "Tigerstar sent you, didn't he?"

"I don't have to tell you anything!" he snapped, but made it obvious enough that the she-cat was right.

The group remained quiet until Graystripe quietly mewed, "Shouldn't we all decide on a leader for these young cats?"

Amberpaw noticed that Echostorm stood up a little straighter at the mention of the position of leader. _He'll get chosen, _she thought.

"Right," Jayfeather meowed. "Let's get that settled. Everybody but Forestgaze leave."

"You're mouse-brained if you think that I'm going along with all of this," Bramblestar glared at Jayfeather.

"It is StarClan's decision on whose leader," he simply said. "You are not of StarClan."

The leader put his ears back and jeered at the medicine cat, but eventually stalked away and sat down under a willow tree.

Amberpaw watched as all of his friends grouped together to speak about their new lives. Making sure she wouldn't be noticed, she quietly approached Bramblestar. There were a few questions that she wanted answers to.

"What do you want?!" he hissed when he had noticed her.

She flinched, but did not run. The she-cat had gotten used to his short temper. "I was wondering…" she paused before finishing, "You said that Firestar was your mentor. If that's true, then why are you two enemies?"

"Because I killed him," he curtly replied.

"Why?" She had expected to receive a cuff on the head, but instead the tabby answered without a sneer or sharp retort.

"I didn't know at first either," he began. "I had declined the first chance I got to kill him when Hawkfrost and Ashfur had trapped him in a fox trap. Back then, I was horrified at the thought of killing my leader. My mentor. My Clan mate.

"But time went on and I grew impatient. Firestar had been leader for moons. He was ancient by then and yet, he refused to retire and allow me to become leader." There was a hint of a snarl in his voice. "Soon, Ashfur approached me. 'I have a plan,' he said."

"What was his plan?" Amberpaw asked, fully wrapped up in the tom's story.

"He said that Firestar was going to go out on the midnight patrol. I was assigned to the patrol, and so was he. It was just us that night." He paused before continuing. "It was the perfect time to kill the blasted fool, and I soon realized that. We set out on the patrol and waited until we were far enough from the camp. That's when it happened.

"Ashfur ambushed him from behind and weakened him from behind. As soon as Firestar was tired from fighting him, Ashfur allowed me to have the opportunity to kill him, so I took it. It ended quicker than I had expected and finally, the tom had lost his last life."

"Did you become leader?" Amberpaw asked.

"Yes, but not for long," Bramblestar's eyes had narrowed to furious slits. "One night, I let my guard down. I was on a walk and before I knew it, my throat was sealed in a fox trap. Ashfur pushed on it and took all of my nine lives before you could even say 'mouse.' He then when back to the Clan and said that I Firestar and he had avenged the tom. It just so happens that cats from each Clan killed one of their Clan mates as well. He had planned it all. Why he chose the cats he did, I'm not sure. And I don't plan to ask him. But long story short, Ashfur became Ashstar, leader of ThunderClan." There was now a slight hint of regret in his voice. "I lost everything that night. My mate, my leader, my Clan's respect, and my life."

Amberpaw stared at the tom in pure awe. Was it really that simple to get what you wanted and yet, even simpler to lose it all?

"Looks like those mouse-brains have picked a leader," Bramblestar's growl forced her back into reality. Turning around, she saw that all the cats had gathered in the center of the camp.

As she stepped towards the group, Angerstrike silently approached her. "Amberpaw," he whispered.

"What is it?" she replied to her father.

The tom looked around before he meowed, "I saw you speaking with Bramblestar. I wouldn't advise doing that again; you can't trust him."

Amberpaw felt her fur bristle. "Why not?" she hissed. "He hasn't done anything wrong to me!"

"He's a murderer! Him and that Tigerstar! Do you really want to have your influence be _them?_"

Amberpaw didn't answer, but turned towards Firestar, who had been speaking.

"...help of Forestgaze, StarClan has chosen the leader for this new Clan." Firestar went on. "The leader shall be Echostorm."

Amberpaw noticed her former Clan mate's eyes widen in shock. "M-Me?" he stammered. "Are you sure? After all, I just became a warrior and I've never had and apprentice-

"StarClan has already decided," Graystripe interrupted the tom. "But, if you do think that you will not be a good leader for your friends, then speak now or forever hold you silence."

Amberpaw stiffened when he hesitated. If he were to decline, it would be either Crookedtail or Mistpelt. _As long as it's not Mistpelt, I'm fine._ she thought.

"Very well," he said after a while. "I agree."

Firestar nodded. "Good."

The apprentice was about to approach and congratulate Echostorm, but she paused. Did Bramblestar want Echostom as the leader? Turning around, she saw the tabby sitting alone as usual.

"Bramblestar?" she asked. "What do you think of StarClan's choice?"

"He's far too young." the tabby growled. "Too inexperiance as well. I wouldn't trust him with my Clan, especially with what the results are going to be."

"What are the results?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly closed it and shook his head. "Nothing. I've told you too much tonight."

"What? No you haven't!" she protested. "There are plenty of things that I don't know of."

"I must leave. Tigerstar is most likely wondering what has become of me." With that, he faded until the only evidence that proved he was standing there were the pawprints in the ground.

"What did you mean?" Amberpaw murmered. "Will Echostorm really be that terrible of a leader?"

-------

Echostorm, bursting with pride, stood tall as his new Clan mates mewed their approvals of him becoming their leader. Already, he was thinking of ways he could improve his cats' lives and what to call their new Clan.

Cassie walked up and gave him a hearty nudge. "Nice job, you big furball," she mewed teasingly.

"Thanks," he purred. He sat down and gave his paw a quick lick before asking, "Are you going to live with us? You're welcome to."

"I'd be happy to. But trust me, you'll regret having to deal with me as a warrior!"

"No, I'm sure I won't."

As the two were talking, Echostorm didn't noticed Cloudtail come towards him. "Sorry for interrupting," he meowed, although he didn't sound sorry at all, "but Echostorm, it's time you recieved your nine lives."

"Already?" he replied, clearly surprised that the ceremony happened so suddenly.

"Yes, mouse-brain!"

Echostorm snorted and nodded towards Cloudtail. "I'll see you later, Cassie," he muttered before following the warrior.

"This way," Cloudtail dissapeared under drooping willow branches on the edge of the camp.

The moment he appeared on the other side of the trees, his blue eyes grew large with awe. The clearing was simple with green short-cropped grass. There was a single willow in the center that had a large hollow at the bottom of the trunk.

"Welcome, Echostorm," Jayfeather padded towards him. "This will be the medicine cat den. Since there is no Moonpool near, we will hold your naming ceremony here."

The tom, unable to speak, merely nodded.

"Good," the gray tom stepped closer. "Sit down." When Echostorm had done so, Jayfeather rested his muzzle on his head. All Echostorm saw was a bright flash of light before it all went dark.

"Open your eyes, my son."

Immediately, the black-pawed warrior's eyes flew open. "Miraclepool!" he gasped.

"Yes, it's me," she purred. "I couldn't be prouder of you."

"I agree," an exact copy of Echostorm said quietly.

"F-Father!" Echostorm whispered.

Darkstep dipped his head. "Greetings."

Looking around, Echostorm realized that they were in the same area that Blackstar had summoned him to what seemed like seasons ago. The four trees behind his parents were swaying lazily, despite the fact that he felt no wind. "Are you two going to give me my nine lives?" he asked after a moment.

"No, young one," Darkstep replied. "There will be many more present."

After he had finished speaking, dozens of ghostly shapes appeared and surrounded Echostorm. His hackles raised with slight apprehension, although he knew that these cats would not harm him.

A dark brown she-cat with lighter brown stripes appeared out of the group and calmly walked towards Echostorm, who was crouched low to the ground.

"Echostorm, my warrior," Leafstar said. "You have come far from the days when you were an apprentice. You have become a strong cat. I am honored to give you your first life."

He dipped his head respectfully. "Thank you, Leafstar."

The TreeClan leader softly pressed her nose into his fur and meowed, "With this life I give you strength. Use it to lead your Clan, even through the darkest of moments."

Echostorm tensed as a wave of extreme pain coursed through his body. He saw himself leading his Clan as they struck down enemy after enemy, no matter how dangerous. When he opened his eyes once again, Leafstar was walking away as a ginger and white tom came forward.

"Blazingsoul!" he rasped as his old mentor nodded and copied Leafstar's actions.

"With this life I give you patience. Use it to gain the respect and love from even the smallest of kits."

Echostorm let out a contended sigh as a wave of calmness blurred out his pain. He felt as if he could calmly react to anything that a future apprentice threw at him. _This must be how Blazingsoul felt about me, _he mused.

"Thank you, Blazingsoul," he said. "I promise to make you proud."

The tom flicked his ears to signal he had heard as he sat down by Leafstar.

Echostorm's hackles raised when he recognized the next cat padding up to him. _Crystalheart. _He nodded towards he anxiously. Did she hate him for his decision to bring Mistpelt instead of his own kin?

"Hello, my brother," she purred. "I trust that you will be a strong leader for these cats." She affectionately licked the top of his head before resting her muzzle there. "With this life, I give you forgiveness. Use it to accept your Clan mate's actions, no matter how severe."

He had expected this life to be calm, so Echostorm had relaxed. He nearly screeched in pain when a burning jolt of anger scorched him from head to paw. Suddenly, his anger was washed away by the cool aftershock.

"Crystalheart," he whispered. "I-I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you crazy mouse-brain." Her voice cracked with emotion.

"Who knew you of all cats would become a leader," a dark gray tom with white streaks exclaimed in a friendly tone.

"Hello, Stormtail," he mewed was more strong then it had been. He was getting used to the pain.

"With this life, I give you the ability to think things through. Use it to calmly asses a situation and not to screw up."

Surprisingly, the tingling sensation caused Echostorm to let out a purr of laughter. "Why aren't I suprised, Stormtail?"

"Yeah, yeah," the medicine cat replied and walked over to the group.

After the tom had sat down, Miraclepool and Darkstep came towards Echostorm, who tilted his head.

"Am I recieving only one life from both of you?"

Miraclepool shook her head and touched her nose to him. "With this life I give you determination. Use it to protect your Clan, even at the cost of you life."

Echostorm let out a gasp as pain clawed through him. Both fear and worry gripped his mind as he saw a burning clearing and the dying screams of cats. _No! _he thought desparingly as he leaped into the flames. _I must save them! _

He had barely opened his eyes before Darkstep had replaced Miraclepool. "With this life I give you fathering. Use it to love your kits, even if your existence is barely known to them."

Echostorm hardly even felt his body accept this life. It was the same feeling he had gotten when Miraclepool used to speak of Darkstep when he and Crystalheart were kits.

"I am surprised that you made it this far," Jayfeather muttered as he stepped forward. "I suppose that I will agree to give you your sixth life."

Echostorm bit back the need to growl at the tom. Ever since the medicine cat had come to 'help' them, the two hadn't of exactly had a friendly relationship.

"With this life, I give you the ability to heed warnings. Use it to accept one's advice and react to it so."

The tom let out a small cry when the extreme pain threatned to take him over. Regret, anger, sorrow, and fear entered him at the same time, causing him to shake.

"Remember what I told you," Jayfeather whispered before bounding off.

Echostorm forced himself to force down his anger towards the medicine cat as Firestar came towards him.

"Echostorm," the tom meowed. "I am sure you will become a leader whose name shall be remembered. After you ceremony, you will only see me in you dreams." He got into position and continued. "With this life I give you acceptance. Use it to respect every cat, no matter thier origin or Clan."

He braced himself as he felt the fierceness of defending a cat whose blood is not pure or who is not Clanborn. An image of him defending Minnowpaw from cruel accusations appeared in his mind and the feeling numbed away.

_That was my eighth life, _he told himself. _Who will deliver the ninth? _

As if to answer his question, Blackstar came towards him, his head and tail held high. "I am proud to call you my kin, Echostorm," he rumbled.

Echostorm dipped his head respectfully, but remained quiet. He had guessed that his final life would possibly be the most painful of all.

Blackstar pressed against the tom's head and said, "With this life I give you the ability to harden your heart. Use it to know when you should be agressive and to whom."

Echostorm gritted his teeth as he instinctively unsheathed his claws, ready to strike down and enemy for his Clan, no matter how weak they are. When he had opened his eyes, he was surprised to feel a new strength flooding over him, replacing the pain and exhaustion he felt from recieving his nine lives. Looking around, he saw the cats that had given the lives to him.

"You shall now be called Echostar," Blackstar meowed. "StarClan welcomes you as a leader of your newly founded Clan."

"Echostar! Echostar!" the group of StarClan warriors chorused together.

Suddenly, all the cats except Blackstar dissapeared. Echostar pricked his ears curiously. "What's going on?" he asked.

"You need to be warned," Blackstar replied. "Beware of a silent killer."

"A silent killer?" he repeated. "What do you mean?"

Blackstar didn't answer. Instead he flicked his ears in a farewell and vanished. Echostar let out a yowl of surprise as he began falling into eternal blackness. _Wake up! _he screeched inside his mind. _I have to wake up! _

Echostar's eyes flew open to reveal the calm clearing that was deemed the medicine cat's den. In front of him sat Forestgaze. She was staring intently at him until their eyes met.

"How are you, Echostar?" she asked.

Echostar felt a surge of pride as he was called by his new name. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired."

She nodded. "I see. I'm afraid you won't be able to sleep just yet though. Your warrirors are waiting for you."

His fur immediately bristled as Blackstar's warning flashed through his head. _Beware of a silent killer. _

Did it mean that one of his warriors was a murderer?

A/N: Well, there is. I hope I did Echostar's ceremony right. I didn't have _The Darkest Hour _with me when I did this. 


	20. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer – I don't own Warriors. **

Echostar tried his best to look strong as he entered the main part of the camp. He refused to allow his Clan to know that he was exhausted from his ceremony. The moment his scent was carried through the willows by the wind, all eyes turned to him.

"Echostorm-er... Echostar!" Mistpelt bounded towards him and Forestgaze. "How do you feel?"

"Fine, thanks," he rasped.

"How was the ceremony?" Minnowpaw, who had followed Mistpelt over, asked.

Before Echostar could reply, Forestgaze mewed, "He is not allowed to speak of the ceremony."

_I'm not? _he thought in sight dismay.

"Do you think that the StarClan cats and Bramblestar are going to come back?" Amberpaw meowed.

Echostar shook his head. "No. They're not." To his surprise, the tabby looked dissapointed.

As if to break the silence, Mistpelt said, "We've already established where the dens are. Yours is over there." She pointed to a hollowed out willow tree similar to Forestgaze's, except the hole was more than halfway up the tree. Just outside of the hollow was a large single tree limb. _Perfect for addressing the Clan on, _he thought.

He jumped slightly when Crookedtail asked, "Did you think of a name for our Clan yet?"

A sudden thought made him say, "Actually, I was thinking that all the cats that were chosen by StarClan could all agree on a name."

The tom nodded. "Very well."

Echostar quickly dismissed all the cats from the group except Amberpaw, Gingerpaw, Tallpaw, Birdpaw, and Speckledpaw. "Any ideas?"

"We could name the Clan after TreeClan," Amberpaw suggested.

Gingerpaw lept to her paws. "Absolutely not! No matter what, I am from LakeClan and refuse to be called a TreeClan cat of all things." This earned her a glare from Amberpaw.

Echostar rolled his eyes. "Very well, Gingerpaw."

After a few moments of silence, Speckledpaw yowled, "You all are completely mouse-brained! Think about it! Willow trees surround our camp. We might as well call it WillowClan!"

The leader purred. "Speckledpaw, that's brilliant."

"It is? Uh...I mean, thanks."

"Do we all agree on WillowClan?" Birdpaw mewed.

Tallpaw nodded, Speckledpaw muttered a "duh", Amberpaw twitched her tail, clearly agitated, but murmered her agreement, and Gingerpaw said, "Of course!".

"Good," Echostar stood. "I'll announce it to the others." _On the Skybranch, _he silently added.

"Let all cats gather together under the Skybranch for a Clan meeting!" he yowled after scrambling up the tree. He was ready to tell the newly founded WillowClan what they would be addressed as and then go to sleep, but there was a few more things he had to do.

-------

Birdpaw sat close to Tallpaw as they both looked up at their new leader. "Looks like this is it," she whispered.

"Yeah," he agreed. "We're home."

"After speaking with the other chosen cats, we have come to a decision on what to call our Clan," Echostar meow rang through the camp.

"More like _I _came to a decision," Speckledpaw, who was nearby, muttered.

The black-pawed tom held his head higher before saying, "We will be called WillowClan."

Quiets mews of agreement came from all of the other cats. Birdpaw pricked her ears when she realized she didn't hear Firestorm. "Is Firestorm here?" she asked Tallpaw.

She felt a small _whoosh _of air as he spun his head around looking for the queen. "I see her," he reported. "She doesn't look too happy, though."

"I don't blame her. She lost one of her kits."

"...All the apprentices come forward," Echostar's voice came back in louder and sparked the blue-gray she-cat's excitement. _We must be having our warriors ceremonies! _she thought and followed Tallpaw, sitting beside him once again when they stopped.

Birdpaw heard a soft _thump _as Echostar landed in front of the seven. He soon repeated the ancient words. "I, Echostar, leader of WillowClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn."

The cat's paws were tingling with excitement and she heard Tallpaw's ragged, anxious, breaths.

"Amberpaw, Birdpaw, Gingerpaw, Speckledpaw, Minnowpaw, Blackpaw, and Tallpaw," each apprentice held their heads high at the mention of their name. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this clan, even at the cost of you life?"

"I do," Amberpaw and Gingerpaw said at the same time.

Once everyone else had replied, Birdpaw held her head up and meowed loudly, "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. From this moment on, you all shall be known as Amberstorm, Birdsong, Gingerfur, Speckledpelt, Minnowstream, Blacktail, and Tallwhisker." StarClan honors you all for your bravery and loyalty and we welcome you as a full warrior of WillowClan."

Birdsong quickly waited her turn before approaching Echostar, who rested his muzzle on her head. She quickly licked his shoulder and back away.

"Birdsong! Tallwhisker! Amberstorm! Gingerfur! Speckledpelt! Minnowstream! Blacktail!" the others chorused. Birdsong swelled with pride. _Finally! I made it! I'm a warrior! _

When the noise had died down, Echostar spoke once again: "And now, seeing as it's moonhigh, it's time for me to name WillowClan's first deputy. I say these words before StarClan so that the spirits of our ancestors may see and approve my choice. Crookedtail will be the deputy."

"Thank you, Echostar," Birdsong heard her old mentor rasp. "I will give WillowClan my all as deputy, just as I did in MeadowClan as a warrior."

"I'm glad," the tom replied after more chanting died down. He added with a pur: "You all are dismissed. I'm positive the Clan will be protected tonight, seeing how many new warriors are holding their vigils. Remember, you all. You mustn't speak."

Birdsong quickly ran over to congratulate her mentor, but Echostar's words echoed through her head. _You mustn't speak. _Instead of verbally telling the tom how she felt, she pressed against his warm fur and then quickly went over to join her new Clan mates.

_You have made it, _a voice the warrior recognized as Bluestar's whispered through the trees. _You have done what no one thought was possible. And for that, I hold you in the highest esteem. Until we meet again. _

**A/N: And now they're all warriors! Hope the names are alright. Tallwhisker's had to be the hardest. **


	21. Chapter 18

Amberstorm's claws instinctively unsheathed as she walked through the forest with Echostar, Forestgaze, Mistpelt, Minnowstream, and Crookedtail. The patrol was planning on speaking to Elmstar about setting up borders and where to hold Gatherings. There was only one flaw the tabby was sure of; LeafClan wouldn't be so happy to see them, even with their medicine cat present.

"We're almost there," Echostar called back. "Amberstorm, please hide your claws. We're not here to fight."

Amberstorm opened her mouth to retort, but quickly closed it_. He's leader now_, she told herself_. You have to do what he says_.

"You need to be less aggressive," Mistpelt, who had been silently walking near her mewed. "Warriors don't fight with just tooth and claw, you know."

Now Mistpelt was different from the WillowClan leader. "No one _asked _you for your opinion," she snarled and fluffed out her tail. "And I'm not a wet behind the ears apprentice anymore!"

To Amberstorm's surprise, the seemingly gentle she-cat glared back and drew back her lips. "I'll give my opinion when I feel like it."

The two remained stuck to the ground, their eyes cold and full of hostility. It seemed like moons before there was a yowl from Crookedtail: "Mistpelt, Amberstorm, come on! Now's not the time to be arguing."

"Let's see if I help you when there's a battle," Amberstorm growled.

"_If _there's a battle," Mistpelt retorted before bounding off.

_I _hate _her! _she thought angrily. _She thinks she's over everybody... We'll just have to see about that. _

_-------_

The sound of quick pawsteps could be heard as a silver tabby she-cat ran through the forest. Her breath came short and ragged, but she kept the same pace. _I have to get out of here before they catch up! _

Not far behind the warrior, a tortoiseshell tom and a dark gray tabby with black stripes where in quick pursuit. "We can't let her get away!" the dark warrior hissed.

"I know that," the other cat calmly replied. "Do not worry; she won't make it very far."

"What do you mean?"

"Watch."

The she-cat let out a screech as a dark gray tom crashed into her side. She lay on the ground, slightly dazed, before scrambling to her paws to face her attacker. Her look of determination and anger turned to one of pain and shock. "Crowfeather?!" she exclaimed.

Crowfeather stood there, his blue eyes chips of ice. "What are you doing, trespasser?!"

"Crowfeather, it's me! Feathertail!"

"I know very well who you are!" he snarled. Narrowing his eyes, the former WindClan tom added, "An enemy. That's what you are."

While the two were talking, Feathertail hadn't noticed her other chasers had caught up. "Well done, Crowfeather." the tortoiseshell rumbled.

"Thank you, Sol."

"Who is she?" the tabby growled.

"A StarClan warrior, obviously," Sol mewed dryly.

Feathertail felt her hackles raise as the toms approached her. _There's no way I'll be able to get out of this one! _

Crowfeather suddenly stood up taller. "Sol, Darkstripe, let me take care of her."

"Why should we let you?!" Darkstripe hissed.

He unsheathed his claws. "Because. I know the best way to make sure she's learned her lesson."

The shadowy warrior was about to protest, but was quickly silenced by Sol. "Let him take care of this," he muttered. "We need to report to Tigerstar and Brokenstar anyways."

Darkstripe glared at Sol, but nodded. "Very well. But don't show any mercy on her!"

Feathertail flinched as Crowfeather's gaze returned to her once the two where gone. "Feathertail, listen," he said quietly. "You have to get out of here. It's dangerous!"

Angry and slightly hurt by the tom's previous hostility, she growled, "Why should I? As a matter of fact, why aren't I tearing your fur to shreds right now?"

Crowfeather met her gaze evenly, but not with hatred this time. "Because you love me," he whispered to the point Feathertail had to strain her ears to hear. "Just as I love you. That's why I couldn't let those two hurt you."

"But...Then...When you..." she stammered for a few seconds longer before taking a deep breath. "Then why were you about to attack me before?"

"I saw that you were being chased by Darkstripe and Sol," he explained. "I couldn't let those fox-hearted cats catch you, so I followed you until I had the chance to stop you. I acted angry so they would leave you alone and not turn me into our so called leaders." he spat out the last word.

"I don't understand," Feathertail whimpered. "If you hate them so much, then why are you here? Why are you on their side? Why do you still love me? Why....Why did you kill your son?" Her voice was rising now. "Why did you do anything you did?!"

Crowfeather hesitated before saying, "Because I lied."

"What do you mean?" The tom didn't answer though. Right after replying, he ran off into the dark, starless forest that he was condemned to walk forever. Feeling helpless, Feathertail got back onto her paws and turned around to return to StarClan, when two cats came crashing out of the brambles.

"Feathertail!" her father, Graystripe, gasped. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she murmured.

"What's wrong?" Silverstream asked.

"Nothing makes sense anymore." She then pushed passed them and walked towards the border, leaving the two cats confused and worried.

-------

"You!" Amberstorm tensed as LeafClan's deputy, Nightfang, hissed and approached the patrol. "What are you all doing this deep in our territory?!"

"We need to speak to Elmstar," Echostar replied. "You may escort us to your camp if you wish."

"There's no need for that," Leafstar appeared out of a bush, the scent of fresh-kill clinging to her pelt.

Echostar bowed his head. "Greetings, Leafstar. And it's Echostar now."

"Oh you're leader? Then that must mean you've formed your own Clan."

"Yes," Amberstorm came up beside Echostar. "We are WillowClan and we need to speak to you about setting up borders."

Leafstar nodded. "I see. And you are the new deputy, I presume?"

The tabby felt her fur grow hot. "No..Crookedtail is."

"Interesting." The leader seemed as if she was trying to get all the information out of the cats as possible. "And how do you want to set up the borders?"

"You know the forest better than us," Echostar reasoned. "I was thinking you could show us the best places to leave scent-markers. Also, we need to find a place to hold a Gathering every moon."

Elmstar paused before answering, "That's seems reasonable. Very well, follow me."

-------

Amberstorm felt a twinge of satisfaction as they walked into WillowClan camp. They had successfully established their borders and explained to Elmstar the basics of a Gathering with only a few protests from Nightfang. They were an official Clan now_. Nothing could go wrong_.

Just as she thought this, Mistpelt approached her. "I'm surprised you didn't attack those cats," she sneered. "After all, I would expect something from a descendant of your kin."

Immediately, Amberstorm knew what she was talking about. "I am nothing like them," she hissed. "How would you know anyway?"

"Trust me, I know. I know a lot more than you think I know. And after today, thanks to that, I will be your downfall, Amberstorm."


	22. Chapter 19

A full moon hung over the forest, breaking through the small layer of mist as WillowClan prepared for their first ever Gathering with LeafClan. Echostar watched with slight impatience as the warriors he chose to go got ready. This group included Blacktail, Tallwhisker, Forestgaze, Amberstorm, Mistpelt, Crookedtail, and Cassie, who was now called Shadowclaw. She had agreed to receiving a warrior name half a moon ago.

"Is everyone ready?" he called over his shoulder.

"As we'll ever be," Shadowclaw murmured as she stood close to Echostar. Over the moon that the cats had been an official Clan, the two had gotten closer than before.

The tom twined his tail with hers and mewed, "Don't worry, it'll be fine."

"But what if there's a fight?"

"It's against the will of StarClan. The moment that moon is covered by the clouds, the Gathering's over."

She nodded, but Echostar could tell that she was not convinced. He gently moved away from her and began walking into the forest towards the gorge just outside the vast trees and the soft ground.

"I don't like this one bit," Echostar heard Amberstorm mutter. "I have a feeling that they'll conveniently forget about the truce."

"I doubt it," Blacktail replied. "Remember, they are just as StarClan-fearing as us."

"Well, _most _of us," Mistpelt snarled, which got her a hiss from Amberstorm.

Echostar whirled around to see the two warriors glaring at each other, hackles raised and claws unsheathed. Beside Amberstorm was Blacktail, looking very nervous.

The leader jumped between them and growled, "Stop it! Nothing good comes from fighting your Clan mates. And on the night of a Gathering of all things!" He tried to hide his surprise with exasperation. _Since when did these two hate each other so much? _He thought.

"Yes, Echostar," Mistpelt turned away, but not before sending a glare at Amberstorm, who just simply walked ahead with Blacktail scrambling after her.

"Is everything alright now?" Crookedtail asked.

Echostar sighed. "I think so." He made his way back to the front of the group, where he saw Amberstorm.

"Listen," he said to the tabby. "I don't know what's going on between you two, nor do I want to know, but this has to stop."

"She deserved it!" Amberstorm yowled. "She-

"I don't care what happened. Just stop."

He felt his fur grow hot as the she-cat gave him a seething glare once he had pushed past her. At that moment, Blackstar's prophecy flashed through his mind. _I'll keep a close eye on Amberstorm. _

-------

Amberstorm looked around the clearing, noticing that none of the LeafClan cats had come to greet them. _I suppose it's to be expected. After all, they've never been to a Gathering before. _

"Not very welcoming, are they?" Blacktail hissed in her ear.

She merely shrugged. "I could care less about them. With or without a Gathering, they're still our enemies."

"I suppose you're right. I just miss bragging about my hunting skills to other apprentices during things like this!"

Amberstorm shook her head at her best friend and sighed. "Crazy furball."

Before the black tom could reply, a yowl echoed across the gorge. Sitting on a large flat rock were the two leaders.

"As we sit here tonight under the stars of Silverpelt, I welcome you all to WillowClan and LeafClan's first Gathering." Elmstar's voice rang out true and confident while Echostar was sitting there, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Not noticing, the she-cat went on, "LeafClan is doing well this newleaf. Our apprentices' training is well and we have plenty of food. Also, I would like to announce that I have welcomed Rainkit as an official cat of my Clan."

Amberstorm felt a growl rising in her throat. How dare she mention that at a Gathering!

"WillowClan is also doing well," Echostar began when Elmstar fell silent. "I have received my nine lives from StarClan."

"Oh? So you have found the Starlake?"

"No…I have not," he admitted to Elmstar. "StarClan summoned me themselves."

Elmstar sat down. "I see."

"I have also chosen my deputy," he continued. "WillowClan's first deputy is Crookedtail." There were a few murmurs of congratulations from LeafClan.

After having nothing else to report, the two leaders jumped of the rock, but paused to share a few words before they went back home. The two medicine cats, Forestgaze and Blackspots were soon called over.

Amberstorm turned to Blacktail and asked, "What do you think they're doing?"

He shrugged. "Probably discussing something about the Starlake. The Echostar and Forestgaze will need to know where that is, after all."

"True."

Eventually, the four cats finished speaking and Echostar and Forestgaze padded over to the small group of WillowClan cats that had formed.

"Sorry about that," Echostar mewed.

Mistpelt purred. "Don't be. That's what Gatherings are for; to talk to cats from different Clans. It's also essential for you and Forestgaze to know where the Starlake is."

It took all that Amberstorm had not to roll her eyes. _What a faker! _She thought.

"Let's head back," Tallwhisker told the group. He was clearly not enjoying being away from Speckledpelt and Birdsong for the first time in a while.

Crookedtail nodded. "Yes, let's."

-------

The moment the cats set their paws in WillowClan camp, Sunkit came running up. "How was it?" the golden tom mewed.

Amberstorm shrugged. "Pretty boring. You didn't miss anything."

"How is Rainkit?"

The tabby felt a wave of pity wash over her. The kit must have been missing his sister as much as Firestorm was. "She's doing great," she replied. _At least, that's what Elmstar made it sound like. _

Sunkit purred. "That's good! I can't wait until we're apprentices. Then we can see each other every moon!"

Amberstorm faked a smile and nodded. It was killing her to know that Sunkit didn't realize that the moment he and Rainkit were made into apprentices, they weren't brother and sister. They were rivals; fighting against each other for honor and to defend their borders.

She didn't notice Blacktail come up to her when the kit had run off at the call of his mother. She jumped slightly when he meowed, "What's wrong?"

"He doesn't know," she replied quietly. "He doesn't know that he'll have to fight Rainkit someday."

"Maybe not," the tom mewed, optimistically as always. "Maybe they'll never run into each other."

Whirling around, Amberstorm hissed, "Blacktail, think realistically for StarClan's sake! They have their whole lives ahead of them! Besides, there are two Clans in this forest and if you haven't noticed, neither of them is very big!"

"I know, I know. You don't have to claw my ears off."

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I just don't want them to feel torn between their Clans and their relationship."

"Wow, Amberstorm," Blacktail purred. "That's not like you."

"Shut up, fox-dung!" she hissed.

"Now _that's _more like you."

-------

Mistpelt looked at the black, foreboding clouds that were approaching the forest. _Fox-dung, _she thought, a_ storm. Looks like I'll have to go ahead and speak t her. _

Swinging her head from side to side, she saw that LeafClan had disappeared into their own territory. _I'd better move out. _She bounded forward until she was at Echostar's side.

"Echostar," she panted. "My paws are a bit restless. If it's alright with you, I'm going to go on a late-night hunt."

The tom looked confused for a moment, but nodded. "Very well. Just make sure your back by sunrise.

"Alright, thank you."

"Mouse-brain," she muttered when she was out of earshot. "If only he knew."

She ran deeper and deeper into the forest until she was right up against the border that separated the two Clans. She drank the air to make sure there weren't any cats to see her before crossing the scent-line. Pricking her ears, she realized that she was on the same trail that she and her Clan mates had taken when they first came to the forest. _Perfect._

Before she knew it, a strong wave of LeafClan scent hit her. She quietly slipped under a patch of bracken and looked around the rival Clan's camp. She dragged herself back out of the bracken and slithered towards the old fox den that she knew as Elmstar's den. Right as she was in front of the entrance, Mistpelt heard the cry of an apprentice.

-------

Elmstar unsheathed her claws as she heard Frostpaw's yowl. _An intruder! _She thought as she dashed out of her den. Not scenting her because of the wind, she almost slammed into a silver she-cat.

"You!" she snarled when she recognized the WillowClan warrior. "What are you doing in my camp?!"

The other cat stood up straighter and replied, "It's me, Mistpelt, Elmstar. I have a favor to ask you."


	23. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer - I don't own Warriors. If I did, Sunrise would be out sooner.**

Mistpelt dashed through the bracken towards the WillowClan border, Nightfang close behind her. _This will work, _she thought. _This has to work. _When they finally reached the scent-markers, the two stopped.

"The camp is just a straight shot from here," she mewed. "Do you remember the plan?"

"Of course!" he hissed. "Just make sure it works for you sake."

The silver warrior narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. Turning around, she quickly headed for the gorge. If her plan went well, she would be rid of the nuisance called Amberstorm. No, the Clan would be rid of her.

When she heard the caterwaul of one of her Clan mates, she quickened her pace. It was time.

-------

Amberstorm let out a sleepy yawn as she curled up in between Blacktail and Birdsong. _Finally, I can rest. _

Just then, right as she laid her head down, a gust of wind blasted through the den. Amberstorm's head shot up when a single scent stuck out. _LeafClan! _"Blacktail!" she hissed quietly. "Do you smell that?"

"Yeah," the tom replied, his hackled raising. "We'd better check it out."

She nodded and quietly slipped out of the den. There was no reason to raise an alarm unless it was an ambush. _After all, it might be Blackspots needing some herbs or something. _But she knew that this was just wishful thinking.

Suddenly, a large black shape rammed into her side. She let out a surprised hiss and twisted her head around to see her attacker. "Nightfang!" she growled.

"Who else?" Nightfang snarled.

Amberstorm closed her eyes and slammed her back paws into the deputy's underbelly. To her relief, the tom jumped off of her, clearly winded. She watched with slight satisfaction as Blacktail slashed at his sides with unsheathed claws. As Nightfang let out a yowl of pain, she heard several warriors wake up in shock.

Realizing that he was about to be surrounded, the LeafClan tom spat and ran off. _That's right! _Amberstorm yowled silently. _Run back home! _

_No, _a voice countered. _It's not over yet. _

Without giving it any thought, Amberstorm leapt to her paws again and dashed after the black warrior, ignoring Blacktail, who was caterwauling, trying to get her to come back.

The tabby blinked in surprise when she discovered that Nightfang's trail led to the gorge. "So something is wrong," she muttered to herself. That's when she realized that Mistpelt hadn't gotten back from her hunt yet._ Something is really wrong. _

She winced slightly as her pads grazed the hard stone as she reached the area she had been only hours before. Sniffing the air, she confirmed that both Mistpelt and Nightfang were here, which only confused her more. "Show yourself!" she yowled.

Amberstorm let her fur lie flat when Mistpelt appeared out of the shadows. "It's just you, for StarClan's sake!" she snarled. "You nearly scared me to- Mistpelt?"

Mistpelt hadn't been listening, but advancing on Amberstorm with her claws unsheathed and her teeth bared.

"Mistpelt! What in StarClan's name are you doing?"

"Finishing what you started," she hissed.

-------

"We have to stop them!" Spottedleaf gasped. "This will only end in bloodshed."

Bluestar sat down by the medicine cat and rested her tail on her shoulder. "You know as well as the rest of us that we can't," she mewed. "We knew that this would happen eventually."

"I warned Echostar," Blackstar growled. "I suppose he doesn't take this as seriously as he should."

"You're wrong," Tallstar protested. "Even if Echostar figured out who the murderer was, there was nothing he could do to stop this. All we can do is pity him. He will lose two excellent warriors tonight."

"But I thought only-

"You are correct," Firestar rumbled. "But the other won't return either."

"And all we can do is sit and watch," Lionblaze whispered.

-------

Amberstorm felt herself back up as Mistpelt came closer. "Mistpelt, I'm not your enemy!" she cried. "It's Nightfang."

The silver tabby let out a soft sigh. "Poor Amberstorm," she murmured with false sympathy. "If only you could understand. I am merely doing this for the good of the Clan."

"Good of the Clan?" she repeated. She opened her mouth to say more, but was cut off as Mistpelt barreled into her. Amberstorm let out a shriek as her Clan mate slashed her shoulder open.

"I r-refused to attack you!" she spluttered.

"That's fine with me," Mistpelt replied maliciously.

Amberstorm yowled once more as she received a blow to her underbelly. _I can't attack, _she reminded herself. _No matter how much I hate her, she's apart of my Clan! _

_But you must!_ Bramblestar's voice echoed through her ears. _If you value your life, fight back! _

_But, that would be betraying the Clan! _She protested.

_Fight! _The tom merely repeated. _This blasted fool has betrayed the Clan anyway! She's an enemy! Why do you think Nightfang came into your camp?_

Once again, Amberstorm agreed with the logic coming from the former leader. Heaving herself up, she glared at Mistpelt. "Very well," she rasped. "If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get." "

The other warrior didn't reply, she just merely ran at Amberstorm. This time, though, she was ready. Amberstorm jumped to the side an aimed a blow at Mistpelt's ribs, which landed successfully. Mistpelt let out a hiss before jumping on the tabby, clawing at her back.

Amberstorm rolled over, nearly pinning Mistpelt to the ground. Unfortunately, her rival had jumped back, barely a tail-length away from the edge of the gorge. Without considering the risks, Amberstorm slammed into the she-cat, causing her to stumble backwards.

Her satisfaction was short lived, though. Her yowl of triumph turned into one of terror as both of the she-cats went over the side of the cliff. She closed her eyes, waiting to hit the icy waters of the river below.

"Amberstorm! Mistpelt!" a voice screeched from above. Amberstorm opened her eyes to see Echostar watching them fall, pure terror in his eyes.

She let out a cry as she hit the freezing river. Frantically trying to keep her head on the surface, she quickly tried to search out dry land. Finally, she saw a sandy bank not too far from her. Paddling with all her might, Amberstorm refused to let the land get out of her sight.

Finally, after what felt like moons, she scrambled up onto the bank, panting for breath. "I'm alive!" she gasped. Then, a thought hit her. _What about Mistpelt? _She scanned the black, churning waters for any sign of the warrior. _I wonder if she's alive. _

As if to answer her question, she felt something hit her paws. Looking down, she fought down the urge to wail like a kit. There, at her paws, was the body of Mistpelt.

_I killed her! _She thought. _If it wasn't for me, she'd be alive! StarClan, what do I do? I can't go back to the Clan like this. They'll accuse me of murder! _

"No," she whispered. "I can never go back. Never."

The tabby she-cat then turned towards the horizon and dashed off, hot tears forming in her eyes. Never again would she see her friends. Never again would she hunt in a patrol.

Never again would she be a warrior of WillowClan.

_But in _

The End

_It doesn't even matter_


End file.
